Green Eyes
by ariapyrasyria
Summary: Edward has a mysterious encounter with someone he never thought could exist...and she haunts him. What happens when Vampires aren't the only dangerous ones out there? **ADOPTED BY ANNA VALDEZ - LINK IN MY PROFILE**
1. The Encounter

**Chapter 1**

**A/N: This story includes a fictional Percy Jackson character. Please read and review! **

**Edward's POV**

I was out hunting one day, just a normal Saturday. As usual, I was worried, because I had left Bella behind in Forks. I always got worried whenever I left her side, even for a moment.

Emmett was taking a ridiculously long time to finish off his bear. I had devoured my mountain lion _ages_ ago. I sighed, and got up from the rock that I was sitting on.

_What to do, what to do_, I mused. Through the thick trees, I could see a very small town, with not many people. I decided I would go to see this, just out of curiosity. It wasn't like Emmett would miss me anyway.

With my speed, the journey from the rock to the village was unbelievably short. I stopped at the edge of the forest, making sure that no one had witnessed my inhumanely fast run. After assuring that no one had seen me, I sauntered up to a little shack, which had a sign that read FREE PORTRAITS TODAY. I smirked. Did this town not even have real cameras? It must be smaller than I thought.

I stood stock still and listened for thoughts around me.

_Wonder if there will be any business today,_ a woman thought.

_No fishes jumping._ The disdained voice of a man cut her off.

_That's odd_, a man's voice said. _What's a little girl doing all alone in the middle of an alley? Should I? Or should I not?_ I shook the voice out of my head, enraged. It was a reply of what Lonnie and those horrible men tried to do to Bella the first night we had dinner in Port Angeles. Without even thinking, I started off to where I heard the man's voice come from. I wasn't about to let another girl become a victim.

The trail of his thoughts led me to a seemingly deserted alleyway. I could hear noises around the corner, the sound of someone being slammed to the ground, and a scream that did _not_ sound like it came from a girl.

I ran the last few meters to witness a sight I did not think to be possible. A black haired girl was standing over a obese man, twirling an insanely dangerous looking knife just inches from his neck.

"Have you learnt your lesson yet?" the girl said, in the most menacing voice I had ever heard.

"Please, please!" the man begged. "I'm sorry!"  
"I don't think you are," she whispered, bringing the knife closer. "Goodbye." The sharp metal blade hit the man's neck with a sound I had never heard before. Blood spattered everywhere, and the scent rushed up my nose. I covered it with a gasp, salvaging the last of the fresh air, but not for long.

As soon as the girl twisted her knife out of the body, it was gone. She looked up at the sky for a moment. "Thanks, Dad."

I was shocked by her words. The sky was her father? What? But the girl still hadn't noticed me. As I watched, she pulled up her sleeve and strapped her knife to her wrist with some leather. She shook her shoulders, not like she was shuddering, but like she was getting something off of her back.

But then wings appeared behind her. They were glossy and full of black feathers, just like a fallen angel's would have been. But there were little splashes of white among those feathers.

But then my reason caught up with me. _Feathers? What type of girl is this?_

As if she had heard my thoughts, she whips around suddenly and I find myself looking at brilliantly green eyes, the exact same shade mine were before I turned.

"Damn," she whispered.


	2. Who is She?

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Oh my gosh! Eighteen views already and only half an hour since I posted it! I'm so happy! Please review! I really want to know how my writing is! :D**

**Breaking Dawn comes out Friday! 3 **

**Edward's POV**

I stood stock still, staring at the girl. Her eyes, which reminded me so much of my own eyes, were full of fright, but then they shifted, and I swear I saw a shadow pass through them.

She pulled out her knife, and within a millisecond, her skinny white arm was holding it at my throat. She pinned me to the wall, though she was much shorter than me. "Four seconds to tell me what the hell you're doing here and why." Her growl frightened me, which was utterly absurd. But she had the knife.

"Wings," I gasped, that being the only coherent thought in my mind. "You…have…wings…" The girl dropped her knife away from my throat, and I came crashing down to the ground. Of course, I landed on my feet, being the incredibly coordinated vampire that I am.

"What are you?" I asked. "You can't be human."

"I asked the question first," she said coldly. "I am politely requesting an answer." The steel in her voice reminded me of the first time I heard Bella speak to me. They both had the same _I'm going to kill you_ tone, but it suited this girl much better than it suited Bella.

"Edward," I said. "Edward Cullen."

The girl looked up at me again. This time, her eyes were filled with disbelief and shock. Then something hit me.

_ I can't read her mind_. Why had I just realized that now? I tried again, but where she stood, there was nothing there. Almost as if she didn't have a mind at all.

_Just like Bella._

"So those rumors," she said, mostly to herself. "They're true."

"What rumors?" I asked harshly. "And who are you?"

"The Cullens…vegetarians?" she said the sentence like it was a question, but I knew she knew. She knew what I was. I felt my jaw go slack with shock.

"How…?" I whispered.

She shook her head. "Never mind that. Forget you ever saw me." She turned around and was about to jump – to only God knows where – but I grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" I yelled. Big mistake. She threw me back into the wall with as much force as was possible. She was even stronger than me, I realized, as I felt my head slam into the wall. _Ouch_. The cool metal blade was pressed against my throat once again.

"_Never_ touch me again," she hissed between clenched teeth. "Let me get this straight. You are to forget that you ever saw me, and do _not_ tell your family about me. Especially Carlisle."

Shock ran through me again. How did she know my father's name?

"I warn you," she continued. "If you disobey, you will pay." With those cryptic words, I felt the pressure on my neck disappear. I lifted my head just in time to catch a glance of the girl, extending those brilliantly colored wings and jumping into the sky. Her wings moved up and down with the grace of a large bird, and then suddenly, she disappeared.

I sat up, rubbing my head. What _was_ that girl? She couldn't've been human, no doubt about that. She had _wings_. But she'd known what I was. Or my entire family. She said the word _vegetarians_, the inside joke that we refer to ourselves as. The non-human harming vampires.

Off in the distance, I heard Emmett calling out for me. I didn't want him to notice that I was gone. Somehow, I believed that girl when she warned me not to tell anyone.

But why?


	3. An Unexpected Mission

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: This chapter is from Aria's point of view. That's the name of the green-eyed girl. Her full name is Ariadne Jackson, and she is the little sister of Percy Jackson. They do have the same mom. In this story, all children of the Big Three have wings. So Thalia, Nico, Percy, Aria, Jason, and Hazel all have wings. And all demigods can do a little mind reading, the children of the Big Three the most. Just a little bit of background there.**

**Also (I know, long Author's note) I just wanted to thank scarlettstones for my first ever review! Thank you so much!**

**And I know this is really fast updating, I just had to get all of this on paper! Enjoy!**

**Aria's POV**

I dropped my knife from the bronze-haired vampire's throat after delivering my cryptic warning. Extending my wings as fast as I possibly could, I jumped into the air. I flapped as hard as I could, and then with my powers over the Mist, I disappeared. I turned around briefly, to see the vampire stand up and look around.

_Shit_.

I knew I shouldn't've gone to that forest anyway. I just wanted a little break. Both Chiron and my dad had been on my case the entire week about training harder. I knew the Giant War was coming up, but why did I have to train so hard?

So I decided to go visit the one place I had never been – the rural wilderness of the state of Washington. Percy had warned me against it, telling me the old stories again, but I disregarded him. How bad could it get? I mean, I was one of the most powerful demigods of all time. Well, second most powerful. Percy was the highest ranked. Of course.

But rankings aside, I flew all the way to Washington, a little quaint town which, to me, had no name. I found my own little quiet alley, which wasn't too dirty at all. I just thought that I would stretch out my wings a little bit, take a breather from flying for so long. Well, only for half an hour. My demigod speed helped a bit.

But to ruin it all, some perverted bastard decided he would see if I was worth it to rape. At least, that's what I gathered from his thoughts. Naturally, I attacked him, and killed him. Dad took pity on me and moved the body away quickly.

And then I heard him. I remembered the shock all too clearly, realizing that someone had watched me kill a human and then seen my wings.

But this particular human wasn't running away. I gave him a closer look. Pale skin, cold radiating off of him, can't read his mind, golden eyes… _Vampire_. That was the first thought I had.

So I threatened him. I demanded he tell me who he was, and my worst fears were confirmed.

_The Cullens_. The people whom, for long, I'd thought were fictional. The vegetarian vampires, only eating animals and not humans. All the stories that Chiron and Percy had told me came rushing back to me at that moment.

_The pale ones…_

_ Cold-skinned….strong…dangerous…._

All the warnings I'd never listened to.

So naturally, I'd ran off as fast as I could once I found that information. I returned from my memory and focused on flying. I had to be close to Camp Half-Blood by now. It didn't seem like it had been half an hour, but with the speed I was flying, I would probably be there in less time.

Sure enough, I started to see the green hills and Peleus the dragon, signaling that I was home.

I stumbled to a landing in front of the Poseidon cabin and went inside.

"Percy!" I yelled, having an urge to tell my brother all that had happened.

"What?" he said, coming out from his room, dressed in combat armor. I guessed that he had just come from training.

"Well, there's no easy way to see this—"

"Let me guess," he said, a crooked grin decorating his face. "You met one of the Cullens."

I nodded, helpless. I hated admitting that he was right.

"I won't say I told you so, Aria," Percy said kindly. "But you're not hurt, right?"

I shook my head. "If anything, I hurt them."

His brow furrowed. "Them?"

"No, it was only one. The bronze-haired one. Edward."

"Mind-reader."

"Seriously?" I asked. "I didn't know. But I knew I couldn't read his mind."

"Part of the legends," Percy said. "We can't read vampire's minds."

I collapsed on the couch nearest to me. "I can't believe it," I moaned, my head in my hands. "Those wacky stories are true."

Percy laughed a grim laugh. "Believe me, Aria, I wish they weren't true either. You were in Washington, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "I just don't know what part of Washington."

"So it was Edward who met you…what did you tell him?"

"Not to tell his family about me. I decided that if he was real, his family had to be real, so I mentioned Carlisle."

"Nice move, sis. Except Chiron might get mad at you."

"He won't tell," I said. "I'll make sure of that."

"How will you know?"

"I don't know, just believe me. Like one of those innocent humans."

"How'd he find you, anyway?"

"Stupid human started getting nasty thoughts about me. Guessing he heard."

"Damn. Did you kill him?"

"Duh," I said, rolling my eyes. "What else would I have done?"

Percy's sarcastic answer was interrupted by a knock on our cabin door. Percy opened the door. His girlfriend, Annabeth, was standing there. Ever since they'd both come back from the depths of Tartarus, they had been literally inseparable.

"I'm going to the beach," she said. "Wanna come?"

"Sure," Percy agreed. "But Aria just got back from a devastating encounter…"

Annabeth sidestepped him and came to sit next to me. "What happened?" she asked.

"Vampire," I said, the single word offering every explanation.

Though I couldn't see her expression, I could tell that she was shocked from the sharp intake of breath. "You better tell Chiron."

"I will," I said. "No doubt about that. But I'm fine. You two go to the beach. I'll go find James and tell him."

"You sure?" Percy asked, looking worried.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said, smiling slightly at his over-protectiveness. "Go, already!"

Annabeth patted my head quickly, and then left for the beach with Percy. I sighed and got up. I would go find James and tell him. James was my boyfriend, the son of Dionysus. We'd been dating for slightly over a year now. He had just turned fourteen. I knew he would be able to comfort me.

Before I could go find him, I decided to change my clothes. I felt a little tainted, since some of the human's blood had found its way onto my black jeans. The weather being unusually warm for February, I threw on shorts and a top. I was just letting my hair down when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in, it's open!" I yelled. A second later, James showed up at my room door.

"Hi," he said, leaning against the doorway.

"Hi," I replied, delighted to see him. He always made me happier. I flew over to him and kissed him on the cheek, lightly. "I was just about to come find you."

"Oh?" he asked, running his hand through my slightly tangled hair.

"Mhm." I lead him to the living room, the main room of our cabin. "I need to tell you something."

"Spill, Aria. I know it's bad."

I sighed. "Well, I was just in Washington. I needed a break, you see. So when I got there, some human thought he'd take advantage of me, so I killed him. But then I saw someone else…James, do you remember those old legends about Vampires?"

He nodded, fearful.

"They're true. James, I saw a Vampire?"

"Are you hurt?" His dazzling blue eyes were filled with concern.

"No, I'm not," I said. "I hurt him, though. I threatened him twice."

"Oh my gods," he whispered. "Was it the same family that the legends are about?"

I nodded. "It was the bronze-haired one. Edward."

James just shook his head with disbelief. "You need to tell Chiron."

"I was going to do that just now," I said.

"But he already sent for you," he said. "He has a new mission."

I groaned. "But…no, I don't want to!"

"Just hear him out," James said, stroking my back soothingly. "Maybe it'll be fun."

"I'll make him let you come along," I said. "At least I won't be lonely."

James laughed. "We'll see. Now, come on." He took my hand and led me to the Big House, where Chiron was waiting.

"Well, Aria, how nice to see you," Chiron said warmly. He wheeled himself up to me and encased me in a hug, but pulled back quickly. "What's wrong?"

I smiled to myself. Leave it up to him to figure out so fast.

"James, you tell," I said, emotionally exhausted. I seated myself in a comfy armchair.

James relayed the entire story to Chiron.

He exhaled loudly. "Well, Aria, I'm sorry you got such a shock. I didn't think they would hunt there."

"Forest. Vegetarians," I said shortly. "It makes sense."

"So then I guess you won't be happy with this next mission…" he trailed off.

"Don't tell me," I said, holding up my hand. "You want me to go to Washington to do something there."

"Well, you're right, but there's more." He wheeled himself over to where James and I were sitting in armchairs. "You see, we think that there is a particularly dangerous monster in Forks, Washington, and we need an experienced demigod to go sniff it out."

I raised my eyebrows. "Any chance that that monster is a vampire?"

Chiron shook his head. "No, none. I already confirmed that. But that monster currently holds residence in Forks High School, so I'll need you to go there. You'll pose as a new freshman."

"Can James come?" I asked, ready to argue with him if I had to.

"Of course," he said, surprising me. "I wasn't going to send you without him, because this may be an unusually long mission. It's a dangerous monster. But if you need help, I'll send in a whole team right away."

"Does Dad know yet?" I asked. I always wanted Poseidon to know where I was going to be. Though I'd told no one I was going to Washington, I guessed he kept an eye on me there.

"He was the first one I told," Chiron said. "So are you willing to do it?"

I sighed. "Yeah…maybe I won't even run into those Cullens again."

"Hopefully," James said. "But Forks is a small town."

"I don't even know if they live there," I said. "I just saw him at that weird small place."

"What were you doing there anyway, Aria?" Chiron demanded suddenly.

"Taking a break," I admitted. "I was tired of training all the time."

"Well, now you get a nice long break," Chiron said strictly. But I saw the smile in his eyes. "You should go get ready. You leave in the morning."

"Alright," I said. James and I walked back to the Poseidon cabin.

"I'm glad I can come with you," he said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"Me too." I leaned up on my tippy-toes and kissed him softly on the lips. "Help me pack?"

"Sure," he said.

I was already feeling nervous.


	4. Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading this, guys! I would really appreciate reviews, since I don't know how good or bad my writing is. I won't have a specific pattern for alternating POVs, just what I think is right. Also, just FYI, this is set after Mark of Athena and in the middle of Eclipse (before they realize that Victoria's hunting Bella, what I call the 'perfect' part XD) **

**And thanks to those few people who followed and favorited me! **

**Aria's POV**

I woke up bright and early, ready for my adventure.

_Not_.

I groaned, remembering what I had to do today.

"Wakey wakey," James said, from next to me.

I sat up in shock. How did he get there? He wasn't supposed to be in my cabin. "How did you get here?"

"I came early, in case you needed moral support," he said. "And then I got sleepy too." He put his arm around me.

"I'm scared," I said, cuddling up to him. "What if this doesn't work out?"

"But you're _you_," James said. "What can go wrong?"

"Well, I could run into another vampire and freak out," I suggested.

He rolled his eyes. "With your type of experience? I doubt it."

I thought over it. "Not as unlikely as it seems. I freaked when I saw Bronze Hair."

"Is that your name for him now?"

"Pretty much. Or maybe just 'Bronze.' In case I need to say something, Bronze Hair seems too obvious."

"Point taken. But seriously, with your experience, what could go wrong?"

In case you were wondering what all this talk of 'my experience' of, my dear reader, then I'm about to answer your question. See, I'm not your typical demigod. I was brought up in a different way. When I was two, my dad took me to live with him under the sea, and train my powers. When I was five, I moved to California with the mission of protecting the humans there. And I've been doing that ever since last year, when Chiron called me back on emergency duty to Camp. I only ever go to Camp in the summers, when school isn't there, but since we found the Roman camp, I visit there too. But anyway, Chiron called me back when Percy and Annabeth disappeared, and I'm kind of like the stand-in leader of the camp. It took quite a while to find them, believe me. Tartarus is not a place to joke around with.

My 'experience' throughout my childhood years was fighting off monsters and protecting an important human. But that turned out badly. I ended up killing the human out of anger. So I've had my fair share of monsters and bad things, angry gods and failed missions. I thought it would end.

"I can't believe I have to do this," I groaned. "Can't I just train in peace?"

James laughed and ran his fingers through my hair. "Well, just yesterday, you went all the way to Washington just to get away from training here."

"No rubbing it in," I growled.

"We have to get up," he said, changing the topic effectively. He knew what happened to innocent people when I tend to get mad. And seeing as we're headed somewhere populated with humans, something bad could turn up.

"No." I snuggled deeper under the covers.

"Aria, get _up_." James commanded. He reached under the covers and started tickling my stomach, the one area I was ticklish.

"No! No, stop!" I pleaded between laughs.

"Get up," he said.

"No," I whined, trying to dodge his arms and stay in bed at the same time. But he won. I fell on the floor in a tangled heap, my hair all over my face.

"Good," he said, sliding off the bed and sitting next to me. "Now get up, shower, eat, and we'll go."

"No." I leaned against him and tried going back to sleep.

"Have it your way." James's voice had a mischievous touch to it, but I didn't realize it until too late. He scooped me up, bridal style, and walked me towards the bathroom.

"Put me down," I said.

"Go shower," he said. "Don't make me shower you."

I snickered. "Don't let Chiron hear you say that. He'd go crazy if he knew you were even here."

"Well, I am accompanying you on the mission."

"Meh. You know he'd still get mad."

"Go. Shower." James set me down on the bathroom's tile floor and closed the door behind him.

I sighed. I didn't want to do this mission. And I was scared. Two feelings I'd never experienced before. I'd never known what it was to be afraid until, two years ago, they told me my brother might die. That was the first time I felt fear: at age twelve. And I'd never, _ever,_ not wanted to do a mission. At the thought of a mission, I would jump at the opportunity. This was so unlike me.

As I showered, I thought over why I was so scared. _Vampires_. That was the main reason. A species I'd never encountered before, almost as dangerous as I was myself. Maybe even more. Who knows?

And Forks, Washington. I'd never been there before. Something told me it would sound harmless, but in reality was dangerous. I tried to remember as much as I could about the old Vampire legends that Chiron and Percy had told me, but all I remembered was that there were three special powers: mind-reading, future-telling, and mood-changing. Bronze Hair was apparently the mind reading one. So who were the others?

By the time I was done with all my thoughts, I was also done with my morning routine. Hair done, proper traveling clothes on, and all my bags packed. Chiron had told us that we would be staying with a friend of his in Forks. Something about another boy already living there…. I didn't know.

"Ready?" James asked, when I came out of the bathroom.

"Yeah," I said. "My bags are already by the door."

"Good," he said. "Chiron wants us to leave right away. Argus is waiting for us in the limo."

"Okay. I just wanna say bye to Percy first."

"I'll be outside." James picked up both my bags and his and started towards the limo, where our many-eyed bodyguard was waiting.

I walked into my brother's room, where he was still sleeping. I kissed his forehead softly and tiptoed out again. Sunday was the only day that he could get up late; I decided he deserved the sleep. I could call him once we got to Forks.

James and Argus were waiting for me in the limo. I slid in next to James, feeling slightly nervous.

"Don't worry," James reassured me, squeezing my hand. "It'll all be okay."

I still had a feeling of apprehension. The whole ride to the airport, James and I sat with our hands intertwined, not speaking. I knew he knew that I was nervous, but he didn't know that I knew that he was also nervous. He was trying to keep up the strong face for me, but I knew that he was secretly worrying too. Out of the two of us, I had more experience in the real world, and I knew it was up to me to keep both of us alive.

The plane ride was a nightmare. Though I can fly and am on pretty good terms with Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, flying in an actual plane still terrifies me. I mean, what if some wind spirits suddenly decided to take their fury out on the daughter of Poseidon? Things would get ugly, and fast.

I let out a sigh of relief when we finally landed.

"Come on," James said, tugging at my hand. "Chiron said someone would be here to meet us."

"Does this person know who we are?"

"No. He told me the entire cover story. It's a family of a child attending Forks High School right now, in the same grade as Edward and couple of his siblings; which is junior year, by the way. She doesn't know who we are, just that we're adopted siblings, transferring to this school. She's under the illusion that we're human."

"Good," I said. "But does she know that we're together? I mean, it'll be odd if she walks in on us kissing and thinks we're siblings…"

"Yeah, she knows," James said, laughing. "I love how you think ahead so much."

I smiled. Neither of us had to go to the weird carousal thingy with the suitcases going round and round, since we'd only brought carry-ons. By the way, I haven't been in an airport in a seriously long time. Don't judge my lack of knowledge.

"Oh, look, I think that's her," James whispered, pointing subtly in the direction of a tall, blond woman.

She rushed up to us. "Aria? James?"

"That's us," I said, smiling the smile that I reserve for not scaring humans. I did a quick run-down of her: slightly frumpy, in no way, shape, or form seemed to be carrying a weapon, and didn't seem dangerous at all. Behind her, I could see a blond haired boy that looked a bit like her: except he was looking slightly nervous and out-of-place.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you!" The woman exclaimed, enveloping both of us in a lung-crushing hug. I gasped for breath.

"It's nice to see you to, Mrs…" James stopped, realized he didn't know her name.

"Mrs. Newton," she said. "But you can call me Karen."

"Pleasure," I said. "Is that your son?" I asked, gesturing to the awkward boy that stood behind her.

"Oh, yes," she said. "Mike! Come meet these children!"

Mike dropped his awkward act right away and sauntered forward. He looked me in the eye as he shook my hand, and I could tell he was trying to be intimidating. I hid my smirk. It wasn't going to work by a long shot.

Mike didn't say anything to either of us, just shook our hands. After an awkward silence, Mrs. Newton decided that she should take us to her house, because of course, "you poor children would be _so_ tired from that _long_ plane journey."

Did she know that I'd flown, not on planes, but with my own freaking wings, longer than that?

The car ride was silent. Mike sat in the front seat with his mom, and of course, James and I occupied the back.

I could hear every little bump in the road and every little bug get squished as we drove by; that was how silent it was. Wait no, that was probably just my acute hearing. Demigods always had that stuff. It was annoying at times.

I got bored, so I decided to dive into Mike's mind to see what was going on there. I quickly gathered my concentration and focused it into seeing what the blond stuck-up could be thinking.

_ Weird kids,_ he thought _look nothing like siblings. Mom said something about adopted siblings…whatever._ He went into a memory of what a slightly-pretty brown-haired girl had said to him on Friday.

_"So, Mike," she said. "I really liked our date last weekend."_

_ "Yeah?" he said, running a hand through his over-gelled hair. "I liked it too, Jessica. Hey, why don't you come over this weekend? I mean, we _are_ a couple now, and everything—"_

I jerked myself out of his head. This was all crap and bullshit. I'd always known teenage boys were slightly weirder than normal, but maybe they just get weirder here.

The car finally stopped in front of a decent-looking house, two stories tall. It had a garden that didn't look like it was well cared for at all.

"Well, welcome home," Mrs. Newton said brightly. "Don't worry about the bags," she said, seeing James reach for them. "Mike will get them."

The look on Mike's face said that he didn't really want to get them.

"It's okay," I said coolly. "We'll get them ourselves." James and I turned to grab our bags. I gave Mike the most nonchalant glare that I could. If you could call a glare nonchalant. I think it was more of a '_I know you're a bastard but I don't effing care_' look.

I think he'd've flipped me off if his mom hadn't been standing right there. Once we got inside, she practically _shoved_ our bags at Mike and demanded that he take them upstairs. Meanwhile, Mrs. Newton let us meet her husband, who couldn't come to the airport, since he was working. She gave us a mini-tour of the house, which, mind you, was small. I'm used to big spaces. Hey, don't blame me, I spend most of my time flying and I was raised in the ocean. What am I supposed to be used to?

Finally, she showed James and me our room. She winked at us and warned, "No funny business."

So I guess Chiron really did tell her that we're a couple.

The room was small. One queen-sized bed, one desk, a lamp, and two dressers. And a small window. That was the extent of it.

_Home Sweet Home, Aria_, the snide voice at the back of my head told me.

Fantastic.


	5. Confusing Visions

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Please review! I really want to know how I'm doing.**__

**While I write, I listen to songs, like my own playlist. If anyone is interested, I could post the chapter playlist at the beginning of each chapter. Let me know, and thanks! **

**Edward's POV**

I couldn't stop thinking about my run-in with that little girl. I wanted to tell someone, anyone, but her warning rang clear throughout my mind.

_If you disobey, you will pay_. The rhyming threat had taken up a sort of a mantra in my head, repeating itself like a bell whenever I had the urge to tell someone.

I was fed up with this. Since Emmett and I had returned from hunting early this morning, I hadn't seen Bella. I decided to see her then. I wanted to get my mind off of this odd non-human.

Surely, she couldn't be human.

I ran all the way to Bella's house, climbing up the tree next to her window. I watched her for a second, working on something at her desk, and then tapped on the glass. She looked up and smiled. I loved that smile.

"Hi," she said, opening her window for me.

I jumped in and kissed her lightly. "You still doing homework?"

She made a face. "I can't have the speed of a vampire, not even with my work."

I grinned. "Where's Charlie?"

"Out fishing," she said. "How was the hunting?"

_Odd. Scary. This non-human girl. With wings. _"Fine." I didn't want to drag her into anything else that could potentially endanger her.

"So, are you here just to distract me, or are you going to help?" she asked.

"Distract," I said evilly, collapsing on her bed. I held my arms out, an open invite. I knew she couldn't resist. Within a matter of seconds, she was curled up against my body, her warmth and my cold.

"Perfect," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"What's perfect?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you really have to ask? _You_!"

I sighed. She would never get that it wasn't me who was perfect, it was her. Instead of trying to convince her of that yet _again_, I just leaned in to kiss her.

After a few seconds, she pushed me away, laughing. "Edward, I really do need to do my homework."

"But that's boring," I whined.

"Still needs to get done," she said. "Unless…there was another option…that could let me disregard homework because I wouldn't have to go to college…and I could live happily ever after…"

"No, Bella," I said firmly. "We already had this discussion. Marriage."

She pouted. I sighed. Did she even know what her pouts made me do? I leaned in for another kiss.

Half an hour later, Bella had to get back to finishing her homework. Apparently, if it weren't guaranteed that she wouldn't have to get into college, then homework was a necessity.

I was perched on the edge of her bed, watching her sigh with frustration as she tackled her increasingly difficult homework. After what seemed like forever, she finally finished.

"I thought you were going to turn nineteen before you finished," I joked.

She shuddered. "I don't want to turn nineteen at all."

I sighed. "Bella, we aren't having this conversation again."

"Then when? Your entire family agreed to it."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Fine," she agreed grudgingly.

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked.

Her face lit up. "The meadow!" she said immediately. I knew why she wanted to go there. It would make me more vulnerable, and she would have a chance of actually convincing me to turn her before marriage.

"Fine." It was my turn to agree to something grudgingly this time. "One condition."

"What?"

"Let me carry you – you'll fall."

She made a face at me. I just kissed her.

We came back from the meadow, all cheerful and happy. Bella was still under house arrest, so I had to return her by seven. I said my goodbyes, albeit slowly, and was on my way back home.

Once I was alone again, I couldn't stop the thoughts of the little girl from coming back. The things that haunted me the most were her eyes. Brilliant, piercing green; the _exact_ same shade as mine had been before I turned into what I am now.

I attempted to push all thoughts of her to the back of my head. While running home, I took the same route as always. Past the Weber House, Stanley House, and Newton House.

But as I was running past the Newtons' house, I made the mistake of looking in one of the windows, just out of habit. Technically, I was running too fast to see anything for sure, but I could swear that I saw those glowing green eyes.

And that, of course, brought up the thoughts again.

Who was she? Why was she in Washington? Why did she have wings? Why did she know what I was? Why did she know what my father's name was? The questions went on and on.

Esme and Carlisle could tell that there was something wrong, but they knew I would talk to them if I wanted to. But Alice, of course, couldn't stay away.

"Why are you all holed up in here?" she asked, flouncing up to my couch, where I'd been lying, listening to classical music.

"Go away, Alice," I grumbled.

She sat down on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I turned over so that I wasn't facing her.

"You can't lie to me."

"You can't read my mind."

"But I can—" She stopped short. I sat up quickly, recognizing the forced silence. Her eyes had glazed over – she was no longer with me here. Without even thinking about it, I started reading her mind.

_Flashes of bright, blank, nothingness… new friendships, alliances, enemies…a strange being holding up a pen, and then it was a sword…a bracelet to a shield…. heads that paralyzed people at first sight…_

The vision stopped.

"Ali?" I asked tentatively, not sure if she was really back yet.

"It's happening," she whispered ominously. I felt a chill go down my spine. This _had_ to have something to do with that strange girl.

"Carlisle, Esme," I said, in speaking tones. They knew they were wanted up here.

The entire family came stampeding in at once.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

"She had a vision," I said. "It—"

"Something's changing," she said. "It's…not clear…I can't see most of it. It's like, blank, white."

I knew how that felt. I hadn't been able to read that girl's mind.

"Elaborate, please?" Rosalie said impatiently.

"New alliances, new enemies," she said, even more mystically, if that was possible.

"Hmm," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "I don't wonder if the werewolves have finally come to their senses and seen peace…but no, that's unlikely."

"Something different," Alice whispered.

"Something I can fight?" Emmett asked eagerly. I rolled my eyes.

"No," Alice said determinedly. "We're supposed to make peace with someone…" she trailed off, and I couldn't help wondering if she'd had another glimpse at the future. But then her head dropped in her hands. "It's all so confusing!" she said. "I can't make head or tail of it."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie," Esme said, sitting next to her and stroking her back soothingly. "It'll all make sense."

"I hope so," Carlisle said fervently.

Now I _knew_ this had something to do with that green-eyed girl. She shows up suddenly, then Alice gets one of the most intense visions she's had since she saw Bella jumping off that cliff? This definitely has to mean something. I could feel Carlisle's eyes on me, but I kept my thoughts to myself. This was also one of the many times I was glad that I was the only mind reader.

"Why are you so frustrated?" Jasper asked suddenly.

_Shit_. I'd totally forgotten that he could read my frustration. "Um…" I tried to think of something. "It's confusing," I said finally. "Usually, we interpret something right away, right? But this time, there were no mental pictures…nothing."

Emmett sighed. "I can see how that would be frustrating. It's always like that when you and Alice decide to have your mental conversations."

"Not our fault," Alice muttered.

"We'll find out what this means sooner or later," Rosalie said. "Everything has to make sense in the end." She sounded sympathetic.

"Let us know if you see anything else," Esme told Alice. Alice nodded, slightly dejected, and everyone went back to doing their own things.

"We'll make sense of it, Ali," I told my sister. "It's fine."

But deep down, I knew we'd have to sort through a lot of messy situations before we actually reached the truth.

But hey, that's life.

**A/N: Please please review! I love hearing comments from other people! And if you want, tell me what you want to happen next in the story. Or what you think should happen. **

** Review! **


	6. Lazy Humans

**Chapter 6**

**A/N: Reviews, please! Thanks **

**Aria's POV**

Monday morning. The day I'd been dreading for the past forty-eight hours.

_ Ugh._

I drank a self-made cup of coffee sitting at the Newtons' dining table. No one else was awake yet but James. Neither he nor I had been able to stand sleeping in for so long. It just wasn't like us.

Pretty soon, the sounds of a family waking up were resonating through the quiet house.

"Good morning," I said calmly when Karen Newton came down the stairs.

"Oh," she said, a little flustered. I gathered that she didn't expect me to be up so early. "Good morning. Did you make yourself breakfast?"

I nodded. "You have some excellent coffee."

She gasped. "You're drinking _coffee_?"

"Well, yes," I said, slightly puzzled. "Is there a problem?"

She hesitated. "Is it…good for you to be drinking coffee at this age?"

I laughed. She surely didn't know how much we all depended on coffee. I would have died at least thirty times if it weren't for the God-sent drink. (Pun not intended, by the way.) "Yes, I'm sure its fine," I replied, still smiling. "My parents always said it was fine with them."

"If you say so…" she mumbled, and I knew she'd be calling Chiron to verify my reasons.

"Morning," James said, coming in from the kitchen. He'd been making his own cup of coffee.

"You two get up too early," Mrs. Newton said. "It's not normal for teenagers to be like that."

"Just because your teenager is a slob, doesn't mean we all are," James said icily. He probably didn't think that through. See, we demigods have some issues with human teenagers. They think they've got it so hard, with high school, and hormones, and all that crap. But think about it this way – you're ADHD, dyslexic, not even fully human, being hunted, and still go through the same things! It really ticked us off.

"He didn't mean that," I said hastily, when I saw the look on Mrs. Newton's face. "We're just not used to being around people who…" I tried to find another synonym for slob. "…get up late." I shot James a quick, reprimanding glance.

"Well, I'm sure you were raised well then," Mrs. Newton replied. She didn't seem angry at James's comment.

James and I finished off our coffee in silence, watching as Mrs. Newton made her way around the kitchen.

"I don't suppose one of you would like go to wake up Mike?" she asked tentatively, after a while. "We're going to be late if he doesn't get up soon, and it's just…I'm kind of tied down here, and…"

"I'll do it," I volunteered quickly. I wanted to see if he was actually as bad as the human teenagers I'd always seen.

James looked at me questioningly. I knew what he was thinking, partly because I could read his expression and partly because I could read his mind.

_Are you going to kill him, Aria?_ He asked drily. _Because, then don't. Not yet. _

I made a face at him. I wouldn't kill him…yet.

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Newton said. She took my empty cup of coffee. "Do you want anything else to eat for breakfast?"

"No," James answered for me. "We only have coffee. Always."

"Alright then," she said, as I headed upstairs to wake up the human.

I paused at the top of the stairs, wondering which room was Mike's. And then I heard the snoring. So that was Mike's room.

I pushed the door open softly. The room looked like a tornado had hit it. Clothes lay everywhere, on the floor, on the desk, even draped over some lamps. Though I was ADHD and dyslexic, I wasn't used to these types of messes.

Mike was sprawled across the bed, snoring like a pig.

"Wake up, Mike," I said calmly, looking down at him. Were all human teenagers _really _like this?

Mike just snored a little louder.

I prodded his shoulder. "Get _up_, Mike."

He rolled over. Oh, so he wouldn't get up?

I went for the next best option. This always worked on Percy. I punched his stomach as hard as I could. "Get UP!"

His reaction was pretty fast for a human. He lunged out with his arm to punch me, but I was already ducking before his arm made contact with the air where my head was.

He sat up, bleary eyed, rubbing his shoulder. "Why'd you do that?" His speech was slurred by drowsiness.

"You wouldn't wake up," I said simply. "Now get a move on, or we're going to be late. And I don't want to be late?"

He rubbed his shoulder. "Did anyone ever tell you not to punch people stronger than you?" He glared at me, narrowing his eyes. I nearly laughed out loud at his feeble attempt at intimidation.

"Yes, I've heard that before," I said. "But that doesn't apply to you."

"You sure about that?" he adopted the accent of a New York gangster.

I laughed. "If anything, _I_ should be saying that to _you_." I left his room then, not eager to start a huge fight. I had plenty of time for that later.

As Mrs. Newton had predicted, we were going to be late if Mike didn't hurry. Since he drove, he would have to drive James and I to school. He grumbled profanely at that.

"Have a nice day!" Mrs. Newton said, waving from the window of her own car. I smiled politely and waved back.

"Get in the back," Mike said roughly to both of us.

James raised his eyebrows at me, silently asking what I'd done. I just rolled my eyes.

When we arrived at school, Mike just shoved both of us in the direction of a building that looked like the front office, and then disappeared.

"What a lovely boy," James said sarcastically. "What did you do to him?"

"Punched him," I said nonchalantly.

"Why—" He never got to finish his question, since we walked into the office just then.

"Well, you two must be the new students," she said, looking at us through thick glasses.

_No, we're just the new janitors_, I said sarcastically to myself. I had to refrain from saying it out loud, because I wasn't too sure that that would go down well with them.

"Your schedules are right here," she said, handing us each a piece of paper. "Ask anyone around you for directions; they'll be happy to help."

I doubted that.

"First class starts in five minutes," she told us. She clearly wanted us out of the office.

"Thank you," James said. He took my hand as we walked out.

"Do we have the same schedule?" I asked. After a quick comparison, we figured out that we did.

"Where's the first class?" James asked himself, looking around at the buildings.

"Remember to keep an eye out for anything suspicious," I muttered, too low for any passing humans to hear. "This is what our mission was for anyway."

"Keep an eye out for the Vampires," James muttered back. I shuddered.

The first class was boring. Nothing interesting happened. Just a bunch of hormonal teenagers attempting to learn something, and failing miserably.

It was wet, and cold. Even colder than New York. I'd spend most of my life in California, and a little bit in New York. I wasn't adapted to the cold.

"H-how l-long is t-this gonna go on?" I shivered during lunch.

"It's Forks," James told me. "It's cold _all the time_."

"Screw it," I said. "I want to go home."

"Come on, you'll warm up," James said, rubbing my hands to stop the numbness.

"Still cold," I said.

James put his arms around me in an attempt to ward off the cold. I relaxed against his chest, my heart beating just a little bit faster.

"We're getting odd looks," I murmured.

"Screw it," James said, echoing me. "You're cold. I'm warming you up."

"Thanks," I said. I began to feel a little warmer. I looked around at the cafeteria, taking in the odd glances here and there. None of the freshman expected a new couple to exude so much affection, I guess. But I was cold.

I could feel people's eyes on me, but after a couple minutes, they stopped staring. Thank the gods.

Suddenly, I felt a jolt of danger. I know it sounds odd when I say that, but it's a sort of…sixth sense, that we demigods have.

James felt me tense against him. "What's wrong?"

"Watch," I whispered grimly. He would know what I was talking about.

I looked around as subtly as I could, attempting to scope out the danger source. No more people staring…except one group at the far end of the cafeteria. Two girls, two boys. Inhumanely beautiful, almost beyond belief. The small girl with black hair was staring at me like I was the cause of extinction. The blond girl just looked pissed, and both males had the aura of a threat. And then I turned my head slightly to the side.

I gasped.

A shock of untidy bronze hair, nearly covering those familiar golden eyes.

_Crap._


	7. Recognition

**Chapter 7 **

**A/N: Reviews, please? Did anyone go see BD part 2 yet? My updates will be a lot faster now – I'm on Thanksgiving Break. **

**Edward's POV**

I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into school. I can't see the future like Alice can, but I knew something was wrong. I sniffed the air inconspicuously, trying to pick up the scent of another vampire or werewolf.

Nothing.

So why was I so worried?

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"Nothing," I said, surprised that she'd noticed. "Why?"

"Your expression," she said. "It looks worried."

I smoothed out my face with a smile. "See? Nothing."

School was, as usual, boring. But with Bella by my side, I managed to make it through the day. The thoughts of the humans were insignificant, irrelevant little balls of mush, just as expected. I really wished I had the ability to turn off the mind-reading sometimes.

At lunch, Alice was chattering as usual. "I'm thinking about a graduation party," she jabbered excitedly. "It'll be so much fun!"  
"At our house?" Rosalie asked.

"Where else?" I questioned. "In the woods?"

"With the werewolves there, maybe we could get rid of a few unwanted humans." Jasper grinned at his own evil plan.

"I'm bored," Emmett sighed.

"Because you haven't punched something yet?" Rosalie asked.

"No, because I haven't—"

I tuned them out, as well as their thoughts. Everything was boring today, despite the fact that Bella was with me. Life was so slow, like quicksand on a hot summer's day.

I looked around the cafeteria, searching for some amusement. I saw a two little freshman, the new ones, sitting together, but at the same time, alone. As I watched, the blond boy rubbed the dark-haired girl's hands, supposedly in an attempt to make her warmer.

I chuckled to myself. She shouldn't have moved here if she couldn't deal with the climate.

The girl leaned against the boy, with him rubbing her arms this time. I remembered doing the same thing to Bella when she was cold, except I probably hadn't helped much.

Suddenly, the girl tensed. It was a movement so small that no human could have noticed, but I noticed.

She looked around, as if sensing some danger. Maybe it was her subconscious reaction to my family being here.

She turned her head in my direction. Her hair hid her face, so I couldn't try to read her thoughts.

Then she turned this way, her eyes locking with mine.

I looked into a pair of brilliant green eyes.

_Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. _

She was here. That freaky little non-human girl was here. _Oh my gosh_.

Usually, vampires don't get freaked out. But I was getting freaked out. By the way the girl's face looked, she was surprised too. And scared.

None of my siblings noticed the change of look on my face. Hell, none of them even noticed the little girl. Just another oddity in this run-down school of humans to them.

But I didn't look carefully enough. They had noticed her. But they looked away. She was just another random girl to them.

"Jasper, I don't get it," Alice said.

"I'm still mad," Rosalie hissed at Emmett. Both of them looked angry. I wondered if the girl had noticed their odd looks and jumped to conclusions. Conclusions, meaning, I told people.

"Something wrong, Edward?" Bella asked, tugging on my sleeve.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," I said quickly. Still no reason to drag Bella into this.

As I watched the girl turned away from me and whispered something urgently into the boy's ear. I couldn't hear what it was, despite it being in my hearing range.

Both of them got up and left the cafeteria, nearly running out the door.

I knew I had to follow them.

"Where are you going?" Rosalie asked, when I got up.

"Bathroom," I muttered. I hoped to God that Alice wouldn't see anything suddenly.

Bella looked at me worriedly. I could tell that she knew that something was wrong. Damn her perceptiveness.

I hurried out the same doors that the two children had gone out of just now. Looking around the hallway, I realized that they probably wouldn't be anywhere close by.

So I ran as fast as I could to the furthest hallway in the school. And there, I heard voices.

"…I swear it's them," a girl's voice said. "Same hair, everything."

"You absolutely sure?" a male voice asked.

"Positive."

The male one let out a huge breath. "You were right, they are vampires."

I could feel myself stiffen, though, of course, I was already frozen.

So they did know what we were.

"They might not be a danger—" the male one continued, but then the girl made a noise. Something like a hissing sound, to warn him of danger. The noise of their breathing ceased abruptly.

I realized what was happening a second too late.

The little girl with green eyes snarled ferociously. She grabbed me by the throat and pinned me against the wall. "What are you doing?"

"Calm!" the boy said quickly. I noticed how he hesitated from saying her name.

But the girl completely ignored him.

"Explain!" she snarled again, putting more pressure on my throat, completely oblivious to the fact that a lack of oxygen wouldn't do anything to me.

"Put me down," I said clearly. I had been surprised to find my feet a couple inches off the floor. She was stronger than she looked.

"Do it," the blond boy said. The girl grudgingly released her hold on my neck.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What type of creatures are you? What are you doing here? When did you come here and why?"

"Slow the questions, vampire," the girl grumbled. She folded her arms across her chest in a defensive motion, and went to stand next to the boy.

"What we're doing here is none of your business," the boy stated.

I felt resentment growing inside of me. "As the only supernatural creatures attending this school, I think that it is my business as to what another clearly non-human creature is doing here."

The two children exchanged a glance. I felt the need to read their minds. It was annoying how I couldn't. Bella's was the only mind that I couldn't read. I saw no need to add to the list.

"How do you know we're not human?" the girl demanded. I nearly laughed out loud.

"Must I begin?" I questioned. "First, I saw your wings. Second, I saw you kill that human. Third, you referred to thin air as your dad. Does that constitute human ability?"

The girl shuddered delicately. "Forget about that."

"Couldn't we just…co-exist?" the boy said tentatively. "Without getting in each other's way? I mean, we know you're not human, you still don't know what we are, but we don't need to bother each other. We're here for a purpose. When we finish that purpose, we'll leave. So could we just forget about this for now?"

The girl turned her head slightly to the left to whisper in the boy's ear. Despite my supernatural hearing, I only caught one word: _monster_. I guess these…._things_ had abilities as well.

What if I abided by the boy's suggestion? I could keep this secret meeting from the rest of my siblings, and no one would be the wiser. We could avoid an unnecessary overload of trouble, all the while keeping our respective families safe. Though I didn't know if these two had a family or not. I ran over all the positives and the negatives of agreeing with the boy, and I made my decision.

"No."

"Excuse me?" the girl looked like she was ready to whip out her knife.

"I said no," I repeated. "I don't want to forget this, even if I could. You two are obviously not human, and I'm curious. I'm sure my entire family will be too."

The girl lunged forward.

"Aria, no!" the boy exclaimed, grabbing her around the waist. She was pulled back unwillingly.

"Aria, huh?" I said, turning the name around in my mouth. It suited the girl, even if she was extremely violent for a little girl.

She just snarled at me. "Nice going," she muttered to the boy.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me your name?" I asked the boy.

"Can't you just forget about us and go on with your lives?" the boy pleaded, ignoring my question.

"Your existence has aroused my curiosity. And obviously will do the same for my family."

The girl growled again. I was starting to think she was more animal than human. Maybe a werewolf? But I dispelled that thought immediately, thinking of Leah. The girl would have to be more muscular to be a werewolf.

"Don't tell anyone," the girl said, with a pleading edge in her voice.

"Curiosity killed the vampire," I said, smiling crookedly. "My family will hear about this."

The girl lunged again, but the boy still held her waist.

"Please," the boy said, not pleading, but looking like he was ready to kill me instead.

I shook my head silently. I knew that I had to at least tell Carlisle about this. The one thing the girl had forbidden. I turned around to go back to the cafeteria, where Bella was surely waiting, confused.

But I didn't have to get that far to find her.

"Edward?" Bella called, looking for me. She was turning the corner to the hallway where I stood with the two non-humans.

I wondered how I was going to explain this.

Bella wandered into sight, looking frightened. I knew she didn't like to be separated from me for too long.

Both the children tensed at once, as if ready for a fight.

"Who's she?" the boy asked.

I hesitated. "This is…Bella," I said. "She's my…girlfriend." There was no other way to put it, unless you wanted to say fiancée, which we couldn't yet.

Aria's eyes narrowed. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought she was jealous. But then I heard the sharp intake of her breath.

"She's human," Aria said. "How have you _not_ killed her yet?"

I turned towards Bella, trying to explain.

But all I saw in her eyes was the fear. The inescapable, crushing fear.

Of me.


	8. Meeting the Human

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: I'm having so much fun writing this story! I can tell you right now, the one song that I've listened to the most is **_**Die Young**_** by Ke$ha. Don't try to see any foreshadowing there! ;) **

**Aria's POV**

Oh, God. So I had to have the bad luck of being placed in the exact _same_ school as the Vampires.

I love my luck.

"Couldn't we just…co-exist?" James said. "Without getting in each other's way? I mean, we know you're not human, you still don't know what we are, but we don't need to bother each other. We're here for a purpose. When we finish that purpose, we'll leave. So could we just forget about this for now?"

I knew he was trying to go for the easy way out. He didn't want a fight with any other species, especially since we apparently had another dangerous monster out here.

"No," the vampire said. I could see the steely resolve behind the golden eyes.

"Excuse me?" I practically shrieked. I could feel my hand twitch instinctively towards the knife strapped on the inside of my wrist. I wondered briefly what it would be like to slice his throat open.

"I said no," Edward reiterated. "I don't want to forget this, even if I could. You two are obviously not human, and I'm curious. I'm sure my entire family will be too."

I charged him, completely unaware of who I was about to charge and how I would be able to hold my own against him in a fight.

"Aria, no!" James yelled, and grabbed a hold of my waist. He dragged me back until I was standing a bit behind him.

Edward's eyes lit up at the discovery of my name. "Aria, huh?" he said.

I snarled at him, as fierce-fully as I could. I turned to James. "Nice going," I whispered.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me your name?" Edward asked James.

"Can't you just forget about us and go on with your lives?" James asked again, refusing to answer Edward's question.

"Your existence has aroused my curiosity. And obviously will do the same for my family." Edward seemed sure that he was now going to tell his family.

I snarled again. I surely wasn't going to let that happen. We were here on a secret mission. The golden rule of every quest was _don't be discovered_. We'd failed that on our first day here. I wondered how that would go down with the camp: Ariadne Jackson, the great daughter of Poseidon, failing a quest.

My snarl sounded more animal than human this time. But, I guess since I'm not human, it was to be expected. Though I was hardly some sort of animal.

"Don't tell anyone," I said. I was surprised at the sound of my own voice. To me, it sounding like I was pleading. I hadn't meant for it to come out that way.

"Curiosity killed the vampire," Edward joked. His mouth twisted up into some sort of crooked leer. "My family will hear about this."

I tried to charge him again, but James still held fast to my waist. He wasn't going to let me get hurt.

"Please," James said. He didn't sound pleading, like I had, but instead, like it was an order. I knew he was close to his breaking point as well. This is why we worked so well together; he could balance me out and I could balance him as well.

Edward just shook his head. He turned around, supposedly heading back to where he came from.

But then he stopped.

"Edward?" a female voice called. She seemed to be about three meters away. I got a sudden rush of her thoughts: _Where's Edward? Why'd he run off so fast? What is it with those two new freshmen?_

I shuddered. So she had noticed something odd about us, and how he'd followed us.

A girl with brown hair wandered into the hallway, looking slightly worried. She was actually quite pretty, even if she was a vampire. But I supposed all vampires were pretty.

_Wait_, I thought. _You could hear her thoughts_. _She's HUMAN!_

James said something.

"She's my…girlfriend," Edward said, continuing something he'd just said.

_Oh my effing gods_, I thought. "She's human!" I exclaimed. I knew that vampires had an extraordinarily hard time of not killing the humans around them. But I also knew that this particular coven each had the self-control and restraint to be around humans without killing them. Hell, their leader was a doctor.

But to have one as a _girlfriend_? To kiss her, touch her, do all the things that a couple did, without wanting to kill her?

"How have you _not_ killed her yet?" I exclaimed again.

But then I saw I'd done something wrong. There was fear in her eyes as the human girl turned to look at her boyfriend.

Aw, man. Now I'd ruined a human girl's relationship. I'd always had soft spots for nice human girls. But I still didn't know this one.

"Edward?" the girl asked, her voice faltering. "Who are they?"

"Bella, they're noting to be worried about," Edward told the girl quickly. "They're just the new freshmen."

"What did she mean?" Bella asked, her eyes going wide. "How you've not…_killed_ me…._ yet_."

I could feel the fear in her voice. I felt a sharp pang of guilt. Poor girl. Now frightened out of her wits.

"Um…" Edward said, at a loss for words.

I glanced at James. _What do we do?_ I mouthed. _Do we tell her_?

James nodded at me.

I looked up at Edward and Bella, still staring at each other, and sighed. "Sorry to scare you, Bella," I said quietly. "I didn't mean it that way."

"So you know?" she asked me. I was surprised that her voice didn't contain any anger. None at all. That was an enormous shocker.

"Well, yeah," I said sheepishly. "Not my fault."

Edward glared at me. "And I still don't know what you are."

"You'll never find out," I said impishly. I stuck my tongue out at him, then slid slightly behind James's body. Never knew if I'd need an extra little bit of protection.

Bella raised her eyebrows. "What are you?"

"Not human, we can say that," James said cheerfully.

"How do you know?" she asked me. Her voice had turned to a little whisper. Her chocolate brown eyes bore into me, innocent in their look, but demanding the truth.

I had to look away. She reminded me of Ariel, my little four-year-old friend, the daughter of Demeter. Except her eyes were blue. And she was dead. But more on that story later.

"Not something we'd like to share," James said, sensing my discomfort.

_That's odd_, Bella thought. _I want to know_. _I wonder what she is. She can't be a vampire – her eyes are green – oh my gosh, green. Was this was Edward's eyes looked like before he turned?_ _Then, what is she? Some new crossbred human?_

I liked listening to Bella's thoughts. They were nice and clear, not like other teenage humans.

"No, we're not crossbred humans," I said, answering her thought. "And I didn't know that my eye color was the color of your boyfriend's eyes before he died."

James nudged me. _Don't do that_, he told me. Well, I read his mind. Whoops.

Bella gaped at me. "How did you do that?"

"She just read your mind, didn't she?" James said. He turned to me. "Don't do that, Aria. It's not polite."

I shrugged, but I had an evil smile on my face. "Whoopsy daisies."

"Hold up," Edward said, looking confused and enraged all at the same time. "You can read her mind?"

"You can't?" I said questioningly, looking up at him.

"No, I can't," he said through is teeth.

James let out a breath I didn't know he'd been holding. "Well, this is odd."

"What _are_ you, anyway?" Bella asked, eyeing me like I was dangerous. Oh wait, I was.

I avoided her gaze. Luckily, the bell rang just then.

"Don't think this conversation is over," Edward growled at me. "I'm not finished."

"Oh, I think you are," James said, wrapping his arms protectively around me. Bella raised her eyebrows.

I nestled into James's arms. Even if I could protect myself from the danger, it felt good.

"Go to class," Edward told Bella.

"You're coming," she said, taking his hand. I was curious as to how he could stand being near her without going berserk. I guess he loved her, then. And had immaculate self-control.

They both disappeared among the advancing throng of students.

"We'd better get out of the way," James said, tugging me to the side of the hallway.

"He's got to have damn good self-control," I muttered.

"He loves her a lot," James pointed out. "At least that much was obvious, even though we can't read his mind."

"Bella's surprisingly perceptive," I said. "Did you notice that?"

"Yeah. I just think its surprising. A vampire falling in love with a human."

"What do we do about them?" I wondered aloud, letting my voice fall to a whisper. You never knew which passing human might accidentally hear something. "I mean, Edward is going to go tell his family. But they still don't know what we are."

"I prefer we leave it that way," James said.

"You know that won't happen," I pointed out. "They might not try to hurt us physically, but I remember that some of them have pretty strong mental powers."

"Which can't affect us," James reminded me.

We went on our way to our classes.

They passed by without notice, since I didn't have to really pay attention to ace the class. All I did was read the mind of some smart person and use their answers as mine. Just slightly modified.

I know, I know. That's cheating. But if I'm here for a better purpose, how can I have the time to study as well?

The class after lunch passed by quickly.

When James and I entered the next class, I was surprised to find Bella sitting there. She looked at me in shock, and I didn't have to read her mind to tell me that she was surprised as well.

"Well, the new students, huh," the teacher said. I couldn't be bothered to remember his name.

"Miss Jackson, you can sit here," he said, pointing to the empty seat next to Bella. He directed James to another seat not far off.

Bella was looking at me, appraising me.

"Hello," she said finally.

"Hi," I responded, slightly wary.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

I was kind of surprised by her question. "Depends," I said. "What is it?"

"Please don't read my mind," she said, her eyes taking on a sudden pleading look.

I nearly laughed out loud. "Are you afraid of your thoughts being violated?"

"How did you know that those were the exact words I was thinking?" she demanded.

I winced. "Whoops. It's instinct. But I'll try not to. It's just so natural for me now."

She nodded. "I'm not used to having people be able to read my mind. Can your boyfriend do it too?"

I nodded. "But not as well. Some of…us… have stronger abilities." I'd almost slipped and said the word _demigod_.

She nodded again.

"Wait," I said. "How did you know that he's my boyfriend?"

Bella shrugged. "Just the way you two act around each other. And the way he's protective of you…just like Edward."

"So what's it like, dating a vampire?" I asked her.

She looked at me, but I couldn't read her expression. I almost started to read her mind, but then remembered my promise.

"Nice," she said finally. "I'm going to become one someday." She said it like it was a well-anticipated birthday present.

I raised my eyebrows. "And you want this?"

"I love him," she said, and I could tell that just from her voice. "I want to be with him forever."

I sighed. "I guess I wouldn't understand that. We always live in the moment. We don't know when we're going to die."

"So what are you, exactly?" Bella's voice took on a more curious tone.

"I'm not saying," I said. God, I sounded like an immature child.

"What's the point of not telling?" she asked me. "It's not like we're going to hurt you." I noticed how she referred to her boyfriend's family as a collective 'we.' Was she already considered one of them?

I shook my head. "I just don't want to. They're dangerous, we're dangerous. I don't know who would win in a fight."

"Just ask Alice," Bella said. Then she hesitated. "Whoops. Shouldn't've said that."

"Alice…" I said, the name ringing a bell. "Is she the one that can tell the future?"

"Right," Bella said, looking at me oddly. "How did you know?"

"We were warned ahead of time," I said.

"So did you meet any of them before this?"

"Just Edward," I said, before I could stop myself.

"Hmph," she said, knitting her brows. "He didn't tell me anything. What happened?"

"Ask him," I said. "It's a long story."

"I think I will."

"It's too cold here," I said, rubbing my arms in an attempt to keep warm.

"I know," Bella agreed, laughing. "It took a while to get used to, for me."

"Ugh," I said. "It freezes up my…" I hesitated. I'd been about to say wings. "..arms."

Bella didn't seem to notice the brief pause. "I saw how your boyfriend was trying to keep you warm. That was cute."

"I wish he could do that now, but we're in the middle of class."

Bella laughed, but then stifled the laugh quickly so the teacher wouldn't notice. "You know, you're actually kind of nice."

I smiled. "Thanks. You are too."

She smiled at me.

I think I'd just made my first real human friend.

How odd.


	9. An Explanation

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: Hey, guys! Question: Should the demigods and the vampires fight? I was considering it, but I wanted to know what my audience would think.**

**And also, a thanks goes out to scarlettstones, who mentioned my story in her AN. Thanks! **

**Edward's POV**

So that little girl could read Bella's mind. I had to admit, I was a little bit jealous. Okay, maybe more than a little bit.

I'd always wanted to know what was going on her mind, and now I had a tiny chance of finding out. But I doubted that little Aria would tell me much.

Another thing I didn't want to admit: little Aria frightened me. Her gleaming green eyes, so familiar to me, and that dark, threatening manner that made even the most powerful vampire seem like a little mouse, all of that terrified me. I guess I wasn't used to little girls being able to pin me against a wall, two inches from the ground. Hell, I wasn't used to _anyone_ being able to touch me, let alone lift me two inches from the ground.

It was clear that her boyfriend, name still unknown, was the peacemaker of the two. I briefly considered taking up his offer again, but I was too curious to let it pass.

What was this new species that had suddenly turned up? It was clear that they were not human. Maybe they were part human? Well, little Aria had certainly said that they were not crossbred humans.

I frowned to myself. Why was I calling her 'little Aria?' She certainly scared the crap out of me. Oh well. Little Aria it is.

So what was she? With the wings, I would imagine an angel, but her demeanor certainly stated that she was not an angel. Maybe a dark angel? That was what her wings had reminded me of at first. But I didn't know yet if the boy had wings. If he didn't, that theory was done.

I conjured theories of their species all the way through the afternoon classes. As usual, I was going to drop Bella off at her house.

"I was talking to that girl," Bella said, as she climbed into my car.

"You were talking to Aria?" I asked immediately.

"Yeah," she said serenely. "She's pretty nice."

I scoffed. "Don't forget deadly and dangerous."

Bella looked at me. "You're deadly and dangerous too, Edward. I'm still around you."

I winced. "Are you scared of me now?" I asked softly.

Bella laughed. "Have I_ ever_ been scared of you?"

"I hope not," I said, kissing her forehead. "She told you that she met me earlier, didn't she?"

"Duh."

"Sorry about not telling you, love. I just didn't want to drag you into anything, and I honestly thought I would never see her again."

"So what happened the first time that you met her?"

"Ah, well…it was kind of like that night in Port Angeles…when Lonnie…well, yeah."

"Go on," Bella urged. "I want to hear this."

"Well, I ran after the direction of the thoughts, but then I found that little girl just stabbing that human guy. And then the body disappeared into thin air. She looked at the sky, for some reason, and said 'thanks, Dad,' like the sky is her father. And then…I saw her wings."

Bella choked. "_Wings_? That girl has wings?"

"Yeah, I know," I agreed. "It's odd."

"Wings…" Bella shook her head in disbelief. "Just when I thought this world couldn't get any weirder."

I chuckled. "But she saw me, and then tried to attack me, well…successfully attacked me, then just flew away. It was kind of frightening, in fact."

Bella giggled. I just stared at her. "What?" Bella asked defensively. "I never thought anyone could get the better of a vampire. And when I meet the person that finally does, it's a little girl."

"Don't rub it in," I muttered. "But anyway, I'm going to tell Carlisle and the rest of the family now."

"I thought she said not to?"

"Since when did I take orders from a little non-human?"

"Since she attacked you?"

I sighed. "Carlisle has to know. Coincidentally, he's the one who Aria warned me not to tell."

"Yeah, she knew who Alice was too. Apparently, she's been taught about you guys before."

"But she didn't know about you," I pointed out. "So it must've been, like, an old legend or something."

"I think I might be her friend," Bella said. "She seemed pretty comfortable talking to me."

"Please don't let her hurt you," I pleaded. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if you got hurt."

"I don't think she's going to hurt me," Bella said. "She doesn't seem the type."

I nearly exploded. "Doesn't seem the type! Bella, she was able to pin me to a wall and lift me two inches of the ground! I think she's _very_ much the type!"

"Yeah, well, you've always been worried about the werewolves hurting me," Bella said, unfazed by my rant. "Have they ever hurt me?"  
I restrained myself from mentioning the time when Paul had tried to attack her.

"Do you want to go home or come to my place?" I asked Bella. "I'm sure Carlisle would want you there to tell of what your experience was with the girl and the boy."

"Your place," she said decisively. "Charlie won't be home until late, anyway."

I turned into the driveway. I knew everyone would already be at home; it was perfect timing.

"Edward!" Alice said, running to me as soon as I'd opened the door. "You have something to tell us, don't you?"

"Do you ever doubt your instincts?"

Jasper laughed, while Alice rolled her eyes. "No. Now, spill."

"What is this I hear?" Esme asked, drifting in from the kitchen. "Edward has something to tell us?"

"Oh, I'm interested," Rosalie said, appearing suddenly with Emmett by her side.

"Where's Carlisle?" I asked. I wanted him to be here for this; he was the first person who should know.

"Right here, Edward," Carlisle said, walking into the living room. "Go ahead, son."

"Well, it's quite a lot to tell," I said, feeling slightly guilty at not mentioning this before. Bella sat down on the nearest couch, her head propped up on her hands, looking ready for a long explanation.

"Well, we have quite a lot of time," Emmett countered.

I took a deep breath. "Well, Emmett, if you remember, that Saturday we went hunting, you finished with your bear after I finished eating, didn't you?" I ignored that glare Emmett was giving me; he hated to be beaten at anything. "So, I wandered into this little village, and then I heard some random human guy's thoughts, about how he was going to see what a little girl was doing, and I immediately felt like I needed to help that poor little girl."

"That's my son," Esme said, rubbing my shoulder.

I smiled. "Well, by the time I got there, the little girl in question was stabbing the guy." I heard everyone gasp except for Alice. Of course, she had been expecting this. "I covered my nose, but as soon as the girl got her knife out of the body, it disappeared. The girl looked up at the sky and said, 'Thanks, Dad,' like the sky was her dad or something. And then – here's the weirdest part – the girl shook out her wings."

At this, everyone gasped, including Alice.

"Wings…" she muttered. "Glossy black, with scatterings of white here and there?"

I nodded. "Exactly. But the freakiest thing – her eyes, they're bright green. I swear that they're glowing."

"Just like yours," Carlisle whispered. "Before, of course."

I nodded again. "And then she noticed me…" I trailed off, not wanting to admit being pinned to a wall by a little girl.

"And then she pinned you to the wall, made you promise not to tell anyone, and flew off." Alice completed the story for me.

Emmett let out a huge guffaw. "She _pinned you to the wall_? Where was your strength, bro? What happened?"

I glared at Alice. "Not cool."

"Oh, you're leaving something else out," she said. "Today."

"Right," I said. "Today. So, the girl who was in the alley, I saw her today at school, with her boyfriend. They're apparently the new freshman. The girl saw me, recognized me, and ran. Well, not literally ran. I found the two of them in the furthest hallway from the cafeteria, and then…"

"She attacked you again, pinned you to a wall, and scared Bella," Alice finished again.

I glowered at her. "Thanks, Ali."

She smiled an angelic smile. "No problem."

Emmett and Jasper burst into hysterics.

"Seriously, man?" Jasper said, through the laughter. "She attacked you _again_?"

"No, this is serious," Carlisle said gravely. "Wings? This means that there are other species of people out there…"

"So what are they?" Rosalie asked.

"We don't know yet," Bella responded. "But I can say this much, the little girl, Aria, she's nice. She was in one of my classes."

"So what do we have on our hands here?" Esme questioned. "Are they really dangerous?"

Alice let out a delicate snort. "If she can attack Edward, I'm guessing, yes."

"I wasn't ready," I grumbled.

"Poor excuse," Rosalie responded smugly.

I was about to retort scathingly, surely some insult to her vanity, when I heard a sound that made me stand stock still. Well, it was a combination of feelings.

First, I heard human breathing. Then, the emptiness of thoughts. As in, I couldn't hear their thoughts. The one human whose thoughts I couldn't hear was sitting right next to me, and this breathing was coming from far away.

My family heard it at the same time I did.

"I can't see the future!" Alice moaned, grasping her head, like she had a huge headache.

"No emotions…" Jasper muttered.

I ran to the window as fast as possible. "My god," I whispered. Little Aria was right on the edge of the woods, with her back to our house. I could see her wings clearly; they were folded tightly against her back.

As we watched, she turned around suddenly, as if sensing our presence. I saw her bright eyes widen with shock, and then she literally _threw_ herself into the air. Her wings extended at the last minute, catching the last of the air drift, and she darted between the trees, looking like a large, graceful, eagle.

"Wow," Esme said, taken in by the beauty of her wings.

"Follow her," Carlisle commanded. All of us were out of the house within seconds, running after her.

"Where'd she go?" Rosalie yelled, scrambling up the nearest tree.

"That way!" Alice pointed. And sure enough, I could see a little figure with wings, bobbing just above the roof of the trees.

"Run!" I yelled. Hopefully, we could catch up to little Aria.

But what if she attacked again?


	10. Dangerous Flight

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: Please review, guys! I really want to know how my writing is! Another note about the history of demigods in this story: You all know how the Mist works, right? Well, it's kind of like that for Aria. Children of Poseidon can travel to wherever they want, as long as their in water and end up in water, but it makes them really tired. Kind of like shadow-traveling, for the children of Hades. **

**Aria's POV**

The vampires were chasing me.

_Fuck_.

I knew it was a bad idea to go to that forest, but I needed the time to fly. The Newtons' house was just too crowded, stuffy, and full of humans. James, having no wings, had chosen to stay behind. I knew I would regret this decision almost as soon as I was out of the house.

"Where'd she go?" I heard the blond yell – was her name Rosalie? I looked back and saw her at the top of the tree.

The dark haired female, the psychic, closed her eyes and pointed in my direction. And I knew I was screwed.

"Run!" Edward roared. I could feel my heart beat faster. I didn't want to know what was going to happen if they caught up to me.

I searched around for any human thoughts, some distraction that I could hide behind.

_I wonder why they're chasing her,_ a familiar voice came to my mind.

_Oh gods, it's Bella_, I thought to myself. They had apparently brought her along too, but she was being left at the edge of the forest, unable to run.

I landed on a light branch, swaying in the breeze. I couldn't see anyone for miles around me, but only the Gods knew where those dratted vampires were.

_Dad, if I've ever done anything good, please don't let them hurt me_, I begged Poseidon. Hopefully, he was listening. I felt a soft sea breeze touch my face, and I knew he was.

_Be careful, Aria_, the breeze seemed to whisper to me. I nodded, knowing it was actually my dad.

I heard a soft thud from a branch behind me, like someone had suddenly landed on it. I whipped around and found myself eye to eye with one of the vampires – the muscly one with curly hair – Emmett, I think.

Without thinking about it, I threw myself off the branch, flying backwards through the air. I twisted around, looking for a landing spot, and found one. I was perched on a tree far off from the one where I'd been before.

But now, some of the others had caught up, probably tracking my scent. Edward, for one, was now too close to me. I could nearly feel the coldness radiating off of him. The head of the family – Carlisle – was crouched near Emmett. The look on his face was more fatherly, like he wanted to be kind to me, but I dismissed that thought at once. These people – _things_ – were dangerous.

I rocketed off the branch again. This time, instead of letting them see me, I used the Mist to help create the delusion that I was invisible. I felt it cover me, like a soft, protective, wrap, shielding me from anyone else's view.

I could hear their yelled confusion as they watched me disappear. Flying in the direction of Bella's thoughts, I kept the Mist wrapped around me.

Soon, I was again on the edge of the forest, where Bella was sitting, looking extremely worried.

I landed softly, but she heard the landing. I could see her eyes widen as she took in my wings.

_Oh my gosh, Edward was right, she has _wings.

"Yes, I do have wings," I said calmly, sitting down next to her. I extended them as far as they would go. "I think they're pretty."

"They are," Bella told me. "Why were you outside the house?"

"I needed to fly," I explained. "It was getting cooped up in the Newtons' house."

"Hang on, the Newtons?" she asked. "You're staying there?"

"Yeah," I said. "That's why I had to get out of there. My boyfriend stayed behind to do homework. But anyways, I came to the forest to fly, and then got a heart attack when I saw the entire coven of vampires chasing after me."

"Huh," Bella said. "They just saw you and took off."

"Do you know why?"

"They want to know what you are," she explained. She looked at me apprehensively. "Are you dangerous?"

I giggled, albeit a bit evilly. "To people who I don't like, yes." Then I saw the look on her face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm used to dangerous," Bella said. "Do they know you're with me right now?"  
"Probably," I said. "I made them think I disappeared, but they're probably following my scent back here."

"I won't let them hurt you," Bella said, almost instinctively.

I looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"You seem nice," she admitted. "And you haven't harmed anyone yet, except for taking Edward's ego down a notch."

I laughed. But then I heard the sound of running footsteps, and I tensed. "They're coming."

I leapt up from the ground and launched myself into the air just as the vampires burst through the foliage, led by Edward and Carlisle.

Edward immediately ran to Bella. The others just glared up at me. Well, all except for the mom and dad – they just looked curious.

I say glared _up _because I was hovering about twenty feet in the air – not higher than they could jump. My wings were slowly flapping up and down, keeping me upright, but not at the same level all the time.

I wasn't sure whether to run or not. At this point, I was glad James hadn't come with me. It would be hard to support his weight in mid air.

"Why did you come here?" the paternal figure of the family called up to me. He yelled pretty loud – I guessed he didn't know that I had super hearing as well.

I cringed at the volume of the words, as did all the other vampires. "You can talk at a regular volume," I said, avoiding the question. "I can hear perfectly fine."

The blond – Rosalie's – eyebrows arched upwards.

"Answer the question," Edward said, this time at a normal volume.

I said nothing, simply drifting over the treetops again. Subconsciously, I was heading back to the Newtons' house. I hoped they didn't notice.

"Don't run!" the other blond male yelled. _Jasper_, I thought.

"I'm not," I told him. "I'm hovering in the air. How am I supposed to run?"

Emmett laughed loudly. "I like her sense of humor already," he muttered to himself, probably thinking I couldn't hear.

"I could hear that," I informed him. This felt odd to me. I was just hovering here, waiting for something to happen, freaking all of them out. I could literally taste the tension.

Emmett looked shocked. I nearly fell out of the air from laughter.

"Aria," I heard Edward whisper to Carlisle. I was confused for a second, but then realized that Carlisle must have asked Edward what my name was in his mind.

"Aria," Carlisle called up to me. "Can you please, um… land, so that we could talk?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Why not?" Esme was the one that asked the question this time.

"I'm perfectly fine hovering up here, and I know you're all perfectly fine standing down there. Talk." My answer seemed to surprise them.

The psychic – Alice – rubbed her temples like something was giving her a headache. Oh, right, it was probably me. She couldn't see the future when I was around. I saw Jasper rubbing her arm comfortingly.

"I think we'd all like it much better if you would come down here to talk," Carlisle tried again.

"No," I repeated. "If you don't state your intentions within the next four seconds, I'm disappearing."

"We want to talk," Edward said hurriedly. "We want to know what you are."

I shook my head. "No deal." I drifted back further a bit, almost until I was over the roof of the house.

"Why not?" Esme asked me, in pleasant tones. I couldn't help but be reminded of my mother for a second – same brown hair, same kind eyes, but different eye color and skin color. And diet preference, of course.

"Well, see here," I began, in a slightly sarcastic tone. I wasn't sure why I wasn't freaking out yet, to be honest. And now, here I was, being sarcastic with the vampires. "There's this little trouble about you all being vampires, and me having blood run through my veins, so I honestly don't think that that's the best idea."

"That's it," Emmett growled. "She's annoyed me enough." I didn't think he was actually serious until he leapt twenty feet into the air, level with me.

I didn't have any choice but to flip over backwards. Luckily, I landed on the roof of the house in a crouch. I snarled.

"Emmett!" Carlisle yelled, too loud for all of us. "Get back down here!"

Emmett, who had also landed on the roof, remained put.

"Are you bipolar?" I taunted. "A minute ago, you were saying how you were appreciative of my sense of humor. Now, you can't stand me?"

The vampire growled even more. I could hear his mate growling from the ground as well – she was becoming protective.

I snarled back just as much. I could hear Bella giggling, just a tiny bit.

"Emmett, get down here," Carlisle ordered. Emmett glared at me, but then dropped off of the roof.

I straightened up and resumed hovering over the air.

"Aria," Esme called. "Please? We won't hurt you."

I resisted the urge to snort, despite the fact that I was terrified out of my wits right now. I prayed to Poseidon for a millisecond before I swooped downwards.

Edward who had been standing closest to the house, got a shock as I screeched to a landing.

"Well?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Why don't we all go inside—" Carlisle started.

"No." I shook my head. "I'm already on the ground. It's either this, or I'm going back to mid air." I thought I heard my voice shaking a bit.

"What are you?" Jasper asked me, point-blank.

I glared at him. "What are _you_?"

"You already know what we are," Edward pointed out.

I shrugged. "I guess. Knowing each of you by name and your powers is good enough."

"Hold up," Rosalie said. "You know that stuff?"

"Of course I do," I said. "How could I not?"

"Name us," Alice trilled. "All of us, including the powers."

I was shocked. "Why?"

"I'm curious," was Alice's reply.

"Um, alright," I said, feeling more like a porcelain doll on display than anything else. I pointed to Alice. "You're Alice, you can see the future, your husband is Jasper – he's an empathy. Then there's Edward, the mind reader, and Bella, the human. But Edward can't read her mind. Rosalie and Emmett" - I pointed to each one in turn – "But with no special powers, and then Carlisle and Esme, the parental figures of this coven. Good enough?"

Everyone stared at me in shock.

"What?" I asked defensively. "She told me to!" I pointed accusingly at Alice. I started hovering a little in the air again.

"No," Jasper said, moving forward. He reached out a hand, as if to stop me.

That did it. I wasn't going to have one of those bloodsuckers touching me. I rocketed into the sky again, stopping only when I was a good sixty feet above them. I hovered there tentatively for a second, listening to the voices below.

"You scared her, Jazz," Esme said worriedly. "Oh, the poor thing."

"I didn't know she would react like that," Jasper mumbled. "I can't even read her emotions."

"She's so…interesting," Carlisle said. "I wonder if we can figure out what she is."

"She's not going to talk to us properly unless the other one's here," Edward told them. "Her boyfriend. James." He answered their unspoken question.

"She can hear all of you, you know," Bella spoke up.

They all looked at her.

"How do you know?" Rosalie questioned rudely. I guessed that Rosalie had never liked Bella.

"She's looking down at all of you with the weirdest look on her face." At hearing Bella's answer, I rocketed downwards again. Maybe they would learn not to come near me this time.

"Edward's right," I said, trying my best to sound nonchalant as I landed. "I'm not saying anything until I have him with me." They all knew who I was talking about.

"Pardon me asking," Carlisle started, and I knew it would be a question I didn't want to hear. "But why do you have wings?"

"Why do you have arms?" I countered.

My question flustered him. "Well…because I was born human," he responded.

I nodded. "Exactly. I was born this way too."

"Does James have wings?" Alice asked me.

"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies," I said, sounding strangely sing-song, even to myself.

"We can't be lied to," Edward pointed out.  
I sneered. "Oh yeah? You can't read my mind, Alice can't see my future, and Jasper can't sense my emotions. What else do you have?"

"She's got a point," Esme said.

I fidgeted nervously. I thought that it was about time I left. "Well, I'll leave you all to your devices—"

"Where are you going?" Rosalie asked. I just stared at her. "I meant, where are you and James staying?"

I was about to tell her that I would die before I told them (maybe not literally) when Bella interrupted me.

"Aren't you guys staying at the Newtons' place?" she asked. "Mike was mentioning something about it."

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Oh, you poor dears!" Esme cried out immediately. "All cramped up in there. Do come stay with us – we have plenty of room!"

"No!" I said immediately. I didn't give a damn about the hurt look on her face.

"I don't think she really wants to," Emmett said unnecessarily.

"At the Newtons'?" Edward said, looking interested. "Any chance you could punch him for me?"  
"Edward!" Bella said, reproaching.

"I already did," I told him. "He gets on my nerves too much."

Edward smiled. I almost smiled back, but then stopped myself. _They're the enemy_, I reminded myself.

I hovered up in the air again, still above the roof of their house.

Esme smiled at me. "Please do reconsider my offer," she said, a motherly instinct in her voice. "We'd love to have you here."

Rosalie's snort told me otherwise.

I just rolled over backwards in the air and continued flying towards the Newtons' house.

Once I landed, I could see James waiting for me inside our room. He was pacing, looking worried. I slid in through the window, making sure to tuck my wings in.

"Aria!" he said, crushing me in a hug as soon as I got through the window. "Oh, gods, I've been so worried," he murmured into my hair.

I kissed his cheek. "I was fine, James. And honestly, it was for the better that you didn't come. I had a run in with the vampires again…"

I told him the entire story.

"God, Aria, how could you have kept calm throughout that?" he asked me, stroking my hair. I loved it when he did that.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "I was thinking about running – well, flying – away half the time."

"I still can't believe Esme would offer us a place in her house."

"It's part of her motherly instinct," I explained. "She can't help it."

"Would it be so bad if we took her up on that? Mike is seriously getting on my nerves." James lowered his voice in the last part of that.

I giggled. "I know," I said, leaning my head on his chest. I loved hearing his heart beat steadily. "I just didn't think it would be the best idea. I mean, we have blood in us, even if we're only part human." I had dropped my voice down to a whisper.

James buried his face in my hair. "Maybe, if we make peace with them, we can stay there."

"We have to find the monster first."

"I know, I know."

"Do we have any leads on that yet?"

James shook his head. "I've gone over everything. I can't think of a single person."

I sifted through the memories of the day and sighed. "Maybe we'll find out tomorrow."

"Aria? James?" Mrs. Newton's voice came drifting up the stairs. "It's time for dinner!"

James sighed. He kissed my forehead lightly, and then took my hand.

Dinner at the Newton household was clearly not a big affair. Mrs. Newton asked briefly how our first day at school had been. Both James and I had answered 'fine' at the exact same time.

Mrs. Newton didn't notice our aversion to discussion and kept chattering on, mistaking our silence for shyness.

For a brief moment, I wondered what living with the Cullens would be like.

Mike kept glaring at me the entire night. He was clearly angry about this morning. I delved briefly into his mind.

_I wish Bella wouldn't be with Cullen, _he was thinking sulkily. _I mean, I'm so much better for her! I wish she could just see that…_

So Mike wanted Bella? Seriously? Last time I'd checked, he was thinking about some brunette named Jessica. He was apparently bipolar as well.

Homework at Forks High School was not a big deal. I'd done mine within the span of ten minutes.

Needless to say, Mike took a lot longer. James and I could hear him groaning over his Algebra all the way in our room.

Finally, we both got tired of the noise, so I decided to go shut him up.

I didn't bother to knock on his door.

"Mike?" I said, opening it widely. "Will you please shut up? We get that you're upset over your homework, but there is absolutely _no_ need to sound like a dying duck."

Mike glared at me. "Well, did you finish your homework already?"

"An hour ago, Mike."

"Are you taking Algebra?"

"Actually, I'm taking the senior level math right now – Calculus." It was true, both James and I had been put in junior classes – and senior level math, because we had done all of this stuff at our old schools. And because we were just smart.

Mike glared at me again. "Well, if you're such a genius, then help me with this problem."

Where was the harm in that? I waltzed over to the desk to take a look at the textbook, and nearly laughed out loud.

"You're having trouble with _polynomial division_?" That had been one of the easiest subjects for me!

"If you're going to make fun of me, then don't help me!"

I shrugged. "Have it your way." I turned around.

"No, wait," Mike said, clearly feeling conflicted. "I need help."

"Say sorry." I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass up.

"No!"

"Bye." I turned around again.

"Fine, I'm sorry! Now will you _please_ help me?"

I sighed and looked at the book. "All you have to do is…" It took a full fifteen minutes to explain this stuff to him. I could've done this in my sleep.

Finally, he understood it. I stood up to leave.

"Don't I even get a thank you?" I demanded.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Do me a favor and don't wake me up tomorrow."

"Do me a favor and actually _get up_ tomorrow," I shot back.

Mike grumbled at me. I shot him one of my sweetest smiles and walked back to my room, where James was cracking up with laughter.

"That was hilarious!" James said, wrapping his arms around me. I grinned.

"You're speaking to the master here," I joked.

"Wonderful. Priceless." James kissed my cheek softly. "So, what are we going to do about that monster?" He had reverted to seriousness again, and dropped his voice a notch or two.

"I don't know," I said. "How about we go back to school tomorrow, and try to figure it out from there?"

James yawned. "Deal."

I guessed we both were pretty tired. We'd had long days. And hovering for so long hadn't helped my energy levels a lot.

Pretty soon, we were both fast asleep, me cuddled against James's warm chest, with his face snuggled into my hair. I dearly hoped that Mrs. Newton wouldn't come in to wake us up. She would probably get a heart attack.

Was that a bad thing?

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I've put a poll up on my profile: who should be the monster in this story? I can't make it a supernatural creature (werewolves or vampires) but I can make it a human. Go vote! I'll put up the results when the next chapter is updated. If you have a preference for a monster that isn't listed there, PM me and tell me! **

**And also, a note to trivia101, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, since you seem to be getting the chapters a bit late, and I'm not able to PM you. Would you mind telling me in your review? Thanks! **

**So vote, and review please! Thanks! **


	11. Godly Parents

**Chapter 11**

**A/N: Hey, guys! Here's another Chapter of Green Eyes – I'm doing this one in Aria's POV this time. I've decided to keep the identity of the monster a secret and only reveal it when the time comes! XD I feel evil…**

**Enjoy!**

**Aria's POV**

I woke up to James tracing tiny circles on the small of my back.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said to me.

"Morning," I said, yawning. "What time is it?"  
"Time for us to wake up. None of the Newtons are out of bed yet."

Dammit. I'd actually hoped to scare Mrs. Newton.

"Aria, that's not nice!" James reprimanded. He had obviously just snooped my mind.

I stuck out my tongue. "No snooping!"

James didn't reply, but instead, started kissing me. I sighed and pulled away.

"I know you're trying to distract me."

"Is it working?" James didn't give me a chance to answer. His mouth crashed into mine, kissing me passionately. One of his hands was buried in my hair, the other one still caressing the small of my back. Gently, he flipped us over so he was on top of me, careful not to put his full weight on me.

I ran a hand through his hair, reveling in the soft warmth of his body. His tongue swept over my bottom lip, pushing my mouth open with his.

I felt out tongues tangle, a sweet bliss as pure as a full moon. And then I heard sounds of humans awakening. I pulled away from James, as much as I hated to do so. I could see the desire in his eyes during these moments, and I had to remind myself sometimes that we were only fourteen – and that Chiron would murder us if we did sleep together before we were sixteen.

"We need to get ready," I whispered softly. James nodded, kissed me once more, and headed for the bathroom.

We had a sort of routine worked out for the mornings. I packed both of our bags, while James got ready. While I got ready, he made us both cups of coffee, much to Mrs. Newton's distaste.

This worked out – by the time we were ready, Mike was ready also. He didn't seem as grumbly today about driving us to school, probably because I hadn't woken him up this morning. That might be part of it.

Once we got to school, Mike waited until we had left his car. I assumed he didn't want us 'young people' to scratch it up – though only the Gods knew why on earth he wanted such a crappy car in pristine condition.

I thought today would be a normal day. But then I saw Bella and – _oh no_ – Edward, walking up to us, his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Bella," Mike said enthusiastically. _Oh my gosh, did she come here for me?!_ he shouted in his head. Egotistical maniac.

"Hello, Mike," Edward said, through clenched teeth. I guessed that he could read Mike's mind too, and I'm sure he wasn't happy with what he heard.

Bella gazed at me for a second. Edward shot me what could have been considered a sympathetic look. It was clear that they wanted to talk to James and me. Instinctively, I took James hand. Instead of holding my hand, he put his arm around my shoulders protectively. I felt a little bit better.

"So…" Mike said awkwardly.

"We want to talk to those two," Edward said harshly, jerking his head in my direction. "_Alone_."

So subtle.

"Well, alright then," Mike said, clearly not too happy about leaving Bella. "I'll see you later, right, Bella?"

"No," Edward said shortly, and then glared at Mike. James buried his face in my hair, laughing.

"Well, alright then…" Mike drifted off, looking a bit rattled.

"Good morning," Bella told us brightly. I couldn't help but smile at her. She was such a nice human being.

"We need to talk," Edward said, through clenched teeth. Again. He and Bella were such opposites.

"We kind of figured," James said, looking at Edward. "Is this the best time?"

"Do you two mind ditching school?" Edward made it sound like we had a choice, but I knew we didn't have one.

"It's the second day," James said apprehensively. "Is that a good idea?"

I sighed. I could tell that Edward wouldn't give in. "It's fine," I told James. "We'll manipulate them."

He nodded. He was thrilled with the idea of skipping school, but not ecstatic at the thought of spending the day with vampires.

Edward gestured towards the forest. "My family is waiting."

I tensed. I didn't want to be around them again. I could fly away, but I doubted that I could carry James with me, all the way back to school. And I knew he couldn't outrun them.

"They won't hurt you," Bella told me, probably sensing my resistance. That girl was overly perceptive for a human.

"I can vouch for that," Edward said. I tried to see if he was lying, but those freaky gold eyes just clouded over. I couldn't see anything.

"We're in, but we're warning you, any of you goes back on that, and you'll be sorry," James said. I shuddered a bit inwardly. I was used to hearing James as the loving, caring boy. Not the threatening, scary voice that I was hearing now.

Edward nodded. "We get it." He led us into the woods by the school (there were woods everywhere here – it's _Forks_) to a little clearing not too far away.

I hoped my dad was keeping an eye on me today. Did he even know vampires existed, for one? But that was probably a yes.

Beside me, I could hear James asking his dad, Dionysus, to keep us as protected as possible. But seriously, what could a wine god do? Get everyone madly drunk?

A sour stench of grapes reached my nose, Dionysus's way of telling me he didn't appreciate that.

"Jeez, sorry," I grumbled, and the stench disappeared. Edward and Bella looked at me like I was crazy.

"Well, hello," Carlisle said pleasantly, once we reached the rest of the vampires. Edward and Bella integrated into their bunch, while James and I just stood on the edge of the clearing, not sure whether to run or to stay. Esme smiled at us in her motherly way.

"So, this is the boyfriend," Emmett said. He grinned, like he had just cracked the most brilliant joke. I couldn't help but wonder if he was just here for comic relief.

I heard James chuckle at my thought.

"It's nice to meet you…" Carlisle trailed off, not knowing what name to say.

"James," James supplied.

"James," Carlisle finished. "So, can we get down to talking?"

"Aren't we doing that already?" I pointed out.

"Not formally," Rosalie growled at me.

"Why don't you sit down," Esme said politely, gesturing to some rocks arranged in a circle formation.

"We're fine standing," I said quickly. Sitting down would give them a 0.04 second head start if we had to run. Something I learned in battle camp.

"If we sit down, will you sit down?" Alice asked.

James just looked at me. I nodded. All of us perched precariously on the rocks, ready to fight at moment's notice.

Suddenly, Bella giggled. Everyone looked at her like she'd grown another head.

"Sorry," she said between giggles. "But I swear, we could cut the tension in here with a butter knife."

The vampire family slowly started laughing, with the exception of Rosalie and Jasper. They seemed to be just as uncomfortable.

I just snuggled a bit closer to James. For one, I was feeling chilly, and his warmth always comforted me, and for another, he really knew how to make me feel better.

"Well," Carlisle said, when he noticed we weren't laughing. "Our first question is, what are you?"

"How are we supposed to answer that?" James said. "We're people. Just like you."

"We're not _people_," Edward snarled. I saw Bella roll her eyes briefly and made a mental note to ask her about this later.

"We're not able to disclose what we are," I said formally.

"Then what is your purpose here?" Jasper pursued.

I hesitated. "To get rid of an unnecessary problem."

"Does that unnecessary problem have anything to do with a coven of Vampires?" Alice asked.

James and I both shook our heads. "No," I said. "Nothing. Though our kind do know of your existence."

"For how long?" Edward asked. "How long have you known of us?"

"If you've existed for three thousand years, then that's how long we've known," James said. I could feel him tense a little bit.

I felt a vibrating in my pocket. My phone.

"My phone's ringing," I told James, extracting it out of my pocket to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Aria?" Percy's voice came through. He chose the best time to call.

"Did you even _look_ before you called?" I said through clenched teeth. "You picked the absolute best time!"

"They can hear," James whispered to me in Ancient Greek. That gave me an idea.

"We're in the middle of a discussion with the vampires," I said in Ancient Greek. Hopefully, they couldn't understand. "Speak only in Greek."

James nodded, telling me they couldn't understand. I could hear their whispers about what sort of language we were talking in.

"What do they know?" he asked me.

"So far, nothing," I said. "They're trying to worm if out of us what we are."

"You can tell them," he said. "Chiron gave it a green light. Besides, we might need their help to find the monster."

"Good point," I said. "So it's okay to tell them?"  
"Make it brief and answer their questions, but don't go into full details. No need to expose the last war."

"Got it," I said. I couldn't believe that I would be the one to tell people four hundred years old of our existence – after three thousand years.

"Bye, Aria," Percy said. "Call me when you can. Love you!"

"Love you too," I said. "Bye."

I hung up. James nodded, having heard every word of the conversation – and understood it.

"What language was that?" Carlisle asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Greek," Edward answered immediately. "But not modern."

"Ancient Greek," I replied. "We've just gotten the okay to tell you what we are."

"Oh good," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes. "After all the suspense." I just glared at her, while Emmett put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

I looked at James for a bit of support. He nodded. I slowly unfolded my wings, letting them extend all the way across the clearing. When they were fully extended, they stretched to a fourteen foot wingspan.

"They're huge," Alice gasped.

"Beautiful," Esme muttered.

"Amazing," Carlisle said, in awe.

I snickered.

"Wait," Edward said. He turned to James. "Why don't you have wings?"

"Because I have different parents." He was giving the shortest answer possible, yet telling the truth.

Alice tugged at the roots of her hair. "This is all so frustrating! I can't see a thing!"

"It's like you all are empty shells," Jasper said. "No brains, no feelings, nothing."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, at the same time Esme said, "Jasper, that's not nice!"

"It's our bodily defense," I explained. "I guess we didn't know we had it until we ran into you."

"So can we stop skirting around the edge and can you actually _explain_?" Emmett said. I had a feeling he wouldn't care to hide his opinion.

I took a deep breath. "Do you all know of the Ancient Greek legends?"

I got a couple nods, and a shake of the head from both Emmett and Rosalie. Typical.

"Well, their gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and the rest, the Greeks thought them up, but they were kept alive by the belief of each civilization. They still exist, to this day." I had to stop to take another deep breath. This was nerve-wracking. "The Romans had their own form of these gods, and each following race kept the flame burning. They moved around with the heart of western civilization, and now, they're in America. Is anyone else familiar with the specific legends of demigods and heroes?" Bella nodded. I'd expected her to – she seemed like a reader. "Well, old habits die hard."

Bella gasped. "You mean – you – oh my _gosh_ are you children of the Gods?"

James and I nodded.

"Your parents are gods?" Carlisle said, his brow furrowing.

"Not both of them, just one," James said. "One mortal parent, one godly parent. We're half human and half god."

"That's just freaky," Rosalie muttered.

"No freakier than immortal vampires," I snapped. James put a comforting arm around me.

"So are you two immortal?" Esme asked.

"No, we're not," I continued. "We can die just as easily as any mortal – in fact easier. We can be killed by both immortal weapons and mortal weapons." I felt kind of odd telling sort-of-enemies how we could be killed. "We, James and I, we're children of the Greek gods. Our brains are hardwired to Ancient Greek, not English. We're ADHD and dyslexic because of this."

"So where do you originally live?" Edward wondered.

"We have kind of a base in Long Island," James said. "It's a camp, mostly a summer camp, for the children of the gods. We go there to train, and some stay there year-round."

"There's another camp, in California, that houses the children of the Roman gods. There are both facets," I said. "They're hardwired to Latin, but it's basically the same concept."

"So do you guys have any special powers?" Alice asked.

I exchanged a look with James.

"Um, well, our powers come respective to our parents," I said, trying to avoid giving details.

"Wait," Bella said. "Who _are_ your immortal parents?"

"Poseidon," I said grudgingly. Not that I was ashamed, but because I didn't want to reveal this information.

"Dionysus," James said, with just as much resistance.

"That means that you're more powerful than him," Bella said to me. "Because of the Big Three, right?"

Damn, that girl was smart. Too smart for her own good.

I nodded. "That's why I have wings and he doesn't."

"So the children of the Big Three have wings, and are more powerful, but the others don't?"

I shook my head. This had become a conversation just between me and Bella. "A couple decades ago, around World War Two, the Big Three made a pact not to have any children, because we were just too powerful. But all of them broke their promise: Zeus with Thalia, and then Jason, a Roman demigod, my dad with my brother and me, and Hades with Bianca – who's now dead – and Nico."

Bella nodded.

"This is so confusing," Emmett said. "Who are the Big Three?"

"She just said it," Rosalie said scathingly. "Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades."

"So what powers do you have?" Alice asked me.

"Um, well…"

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us, dear," Esme said comfortingly. "There's always time for that later."

I shot her a grateful look, while Edward glared at her.

"You mentioned having a purpose here," Carlisle pressed on with the interrogation. "What is it?"

"Killing a monster," James said. "In our world, there are monsters as well. We just manage to kill them before anything bad happens."

"Or, they kill us," I pointed out. We'd had too many mishaps within the past fifty years.

"Are you sure that this monster isn't a vampire?" Jasper asked.

I shook my head. "We checked thoroughly. It's something else."

"A monster, in Forks High School?" Bella said, looking worried.

James chuckled. "There's no need to be afraid – the monster won't even go for a human like you. It has an agenda of its own."

"How come you know everything about us?" Rosalie asked.

"We're taught about you in camp," I explained. "As part of the legends. None of us ever believed it, though, until—"

"Until you came back with proof of us," Edward finished for me. "Honestly, I'm curious to see what powers you have."

"Don't push her, Edward," Carlisle and Esme warned at the same time.

I turned to look back at James, and grinned evilly.

_What are you thinking, Aria_? He groaned. _Don't do it_.

_They're asking for it,_ I replied. "So you wanted to see my powers?" I asked, doing my best to keep any thoughts of devilish-ness out of my voice. Thank the gods that Edward couldn't read my mind.

"Sure," Carlisle said. The rest nodded.

I closed my eyes and let my senses search around me for the nearest body of water. I felt several puddles, but they were all too tiny. Finally, I felt a little creek rushing nearby. I felt a small smile twist my mouth upwards. James's thoughts were not the most pleasant ones right about now.

I raised my arms, willing the creek to move with me. Luckily for me, the water spirit of that particular water body was feeling nice today. The creek rushed through the trees, yearning to reach me. I kept the water in its original position, though with the cold, it might have frozen into ice.

It was heading towards the backs of the Cullens, and some of it to the sides. I moved one hand, stopping the water flow on both sides just before it hit them. Unfortunately, I just _forgot_ to stop the water from crashing into their backs.

_Whoopsy daisies! _:)

I heard yells as all the Cullens were soaked with the cold water, even Bella. I could feel my dad's disapproving glare, but honestly, this was fun.

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry," I said, feigning innocence. "I didn't know – I'm still learning – I'm sorry!"

"It's alright," Carlisle said, shaking the water from his shirt. I was having trouble not doubling over with laughter, and I knew James was too.

"She's not used to fresh water," he said, by way of explanation. "Since Poseidon is the god of the sea, she's used to salt water."

"She messed up my hair!" Rosalie wailed.

"Oh, get over it," Bella snapped. I could feel the tension between those two.

"I'm sorry," I said again, still hiding my laughter.

Edward's golden eyes did not seem to believe me. I glared back at him, hoping he wasn't enough of a mind reader to read my eyes as well.

"So what's your power?" Alice asked James, still surprisingly dry.

James and I exchanged looks.

"You probably wouldn't want to know," I said.

"Oh!" Bella gasped. "Dionysus – wine! Is he going to make everyone drunk?"  
"Can vampires get drunk?" I asked.

"No," Emmett and Jasper said right away.

Edward rolled his eyes. "They would know – they tried it."

"Sweet!" James said. "Sucks that it didn't work."

I could see that James and Jasper and Emmett really weren't that different. By the knowing look Bella was giving me, I could tell that she saw the same thing.

"Don't make them drunk," I told James. "Leave that to your dad when he's pissed off."

He shrugged. "Good enough for me."

I smelt sour grapes again. "Jeez, I'm sorry again, Dionysus. What am I supposed to do about your son's power being getting people drunk?"

James snickered. "Lay off, dad."

Bella's eyes widened. "They're actually here…like, _now_?"

"Just a part of them," I said. "They can be in many places at once, and obviously, they're going to keep an eye out on us."

Emmett shook his head. "Overprotective parents."

Surprisingly, the smell of sour grapes began to permeate the clearing. I'd been thinking that the gods would stay out of this.

"Dad!" James yelled. "Cut it out!"

The stench stopped abruptly. Emmett still had his nose covered.

"Wow," Carlisle said. "Fascinating."

"Not," Emmett grumbled.

"So what else can you do?" Alice pressed again. Maybe she knew that we were hiding things.

I thought for a minute. "Mist," I told James. "Disappear." I knew he would understand.

He nodded, finding meaning in my two mysterious words. I started counting down in my head, knowing that he would hear.

_Three…Two…One…_

I launched myself into the air. My wings were still out, just folding against my back. Unfurling them as quickly as possible, the wind jerked me upwards. I didn't go too far up this time – just hovering over the heads of the Cullens.

I twirled around in the air, brushing Edward's hair accidentally once – who knew it would be so fluffy?

The Cullens weren't too happy – they couldn't have been comfortable with the air whooshing around them – don't forget the little girl with wings.

I could both feel and see James concentrating. A second later, I felt a little cover wrap around my body, and I knew he had shielded me from sight with the Mist. Demigods had the ability to do that – shield us from the sight of other beings. I could still see him and he could see me, but no one else could see us.

"Where'd they go?" Rosalie yelled, causing me to remember how they had chased me yesterday.

"I'm right here," I called to them, since I was invisible. "I'm just invisible."

"I'm here," James said, still in the same place as before. "It's one of our powers."

"Dratted invisibility," I heard Jasper mutter. I could tell that he wasn't too happy with this.

I laughed with joy and skimmed over his head. He wasn't too pleased with that.

"This is so cool," Bella said. I heard Edward snort in disbelief. "What?" she said defensively. "It is!"

I shook off the Mist covering, appearing again, right above their heads. But I landed, back next to James.

"So those are our powers," I said, while James shook off the Mist.

"Wow," Carlisle whispered. His golden eyes were alight with fascination.

I fidgeted, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Can we go back to school now?"

Rosalie sneered at me. "Don't tell me you want to go to school?"

I looked serenely at her. "I want to go to school because all those innocent human minds have so many secrets that the average mind reader is just _itching_ to delve into."

James rubbed my back soothingly. Only he knew that I was about four seconds away from going into full Greek warrior mode.

Edward barked out a laugh. "Gotta give them credit for that. But she's got a point – it's their second day."

"Our offer still stands," Esme said, looking at me with her motherly love.

I looked at James.

"We're considering it," he said. "We have to make sure that our parents are okay with it."

I nodded my agreement.

Esme smiled. "Let me know, alright? We have plenty of beds – no one sleeps in this house."

I smiled back at her. She reminded me too much of my own mother.

"Get back to school, kids," Carlisle said. He took Esme's hand, and they disappeared into the forest. I knew that they would go back to their house.

"Walk with us?" Bella said.

I nodded. I was unable to stop myself from wondering if it would be so bad to have vampires as friends.

Though I was still uncomfortable that they knew all our secrets – well, most of them – I knew that I could trust them not to spill. After all, they'd had their own secret for centuries.

Maybe we could be friends, after all.

**A/N: Don't forget to review! In your review please let me know if you'd like them to live with the vampires. The potential risks could be addressed, but let me know please! Thanks! **


	12. Supernatural Shock

**Chapter 12**

**A/N: Alright, I've gotten my four reviews. First of all, thank you to The Riptide Writer, gabeDj, and Judy1998 for actually **_**reviewing**_** the story. I love you guys! :) **

**Second, everyone else who's reading this should review! I want to know what people think of this! Unless you're all willing to forgo the first amendment (freedom of speech, for you people who never took US History) then review! Don't let other people speak for your own review! Okay, that sounds a bit cheesy. **

**Review! I'll leave the other, longer, author's note until the end. **

**Edward's POV**

Part god. Those two children were part _god_. Part _god,_ for crying out loud.

Part god.

Part god.

Part god.

Did I say part god yet? No? Okay, well part FREAKING god.

I think I have justified my limit for sounding like a hormonally imbalanced teenager, at this point.

The walk back to the school was silent. I could even hear a bird twittering from over a mile away. That's how silent it was.

The thoughts of my siblings were mirrors of my own thoughts – shock, disbelief, and in some, fear.

Why fear? Because Carlisle, however ironically, had instilled a fear of God in us. Despite the fact that we were vampires and had no small chance of getting into heaven, we all had an underlying fear of god. Hence, the fear of these little children.

The wings, the strange powers, they all made sense now. Well, not so much the wings. Why would a child of the gods have _wings_? I made a mental note to ask Aria that as soon as possible.

I spent the entire morning thinking about this new revelation. I thought that vampires and werewolves were the only supernatural creatures to exist. Apparently, I was wrong. And these other supernatural creatures – part _god_ – had had knowledge of us prior to this strange and awkward meeting.

Life just couldn't get any weirder.

If the teachers noticed that I, or any of my siblings, were not focusing as much today, they didn't take advantage of this. Maybe they thought that for one day, these impeccable Cullens needed a break. I thanked them. Not verbally, of course.

But lunchtime was a different story. Instead of sitting at our usual table, in the far corner of the cafeteria, Alice was tugging my hand in a different direction.

"Where are we going?" I asked, too much in shock to actually delve into her mind for the answer.

Instead of answering me, she pointed towards two little children who were sitting in the other far corner of the cafeteria – looking inhumanly supernatural.

_Oh._

_I just thought it would be nice if we gave them company today,_ Alice thought. I couldn't help but agree.

The rest of our family followed without a complaint. Well, I could hear their complaints, but they didn't voice them.

Bella led the way, slightly eager to sit with a new friend. I was almost alarmed by the way she had made friends with Aria so fast.

I wasn't expecting Aria or James to hear us approaching. We made no noise.

But when Aria turned, her eyes falling directly on my family and I, I was surprised. How had she heard that?

"Hello," Bella said brightly, taking the seat next to Aria. Which left the rest of us to seat ourselves awkwardly at different positions around the table.

"Hi," Aria said warily. I wouldn't blame her. Having a bunch of vampires descending on you can be kind of scary.

"No offense, but why are you here?" James said. I could hear the dubious tone in his voice, even if I couldn't read his mind.

"I told you so," I whispered to Alice, at a volume too low for human, or part god, ears to comprehend.

"What, did you guys have a bet or something?" Aria asked, looking at me.

I froze. "You could hear that?"

James laughed. "Oh, we forgot to mention the acute hearing."

Aria smiled. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

"Oh, so now you can hear everything we say, too?" Rosalie said scathingly.

Aria shrugged. "Pretty much. But not unless you speak in a different language."

"They can hear us," I whispered to Alice in Latin. If they couldn't understand this language, that would be easy. We all knew Latin.

"Oh, another thing," Aria said. "We understand Latin."

Bella started cracking up at the looks on all of our faces. "Oh my gosh, this is priceless!"

Emmett was the first to recover. "Well, this should be fun," he said. _Or more like, I wouldn't want them to hear everything I whisper to Rosalie._ _Like how she's so_—

I stopped listening at that point, and shot him a glare. "Not necessary, Emmett!" I hissed.

He stuck his tongue out at me. "No one asked you to listen!"

"So why are you here, anyway?" Aria asked. I guess they didn't want to drop the topic.

"We didn't want you to feel lonely," Alice said. "It's nice to have friends, you know."

"Sure," James said.

"Well, as long as you're not here to talk about anything in particular," Aria started.

"Wait!" I said. "I had a question."

She looked at me for a minute, and I couldn't help thinking again that those eyes were glowing. Like little lanterns.

"What?" she said, sounding annoyed.

"I didn't get it," I said. "Why does being a child of the Big Three make you have wings?"

She sighed. "Because we're more powerful than the rest of them." I noticed how she slid her hand over her boyfriend's, as if comforting him. "We were born with more powers. I don't know why those decided to take the form of wings. I can assure you, we do not have any bird genes in us."

"Thank the gods," James muttered.

She whispered something in Ancient Greek to him, and he nodded.

"If you all don't mind, I'm going to do some more _important_ work," Aria said. I expected her to get up from the table, but she didn't. Instead, she donned a peculiar look – kind of like the look that Alice had when she was purposely trying to see into the future.

"She's mind surfing," James explained to all of us. He looked at me. "You must get it, Edward. She's basically running through the minds of everyone in this lunchroom. She's searching."

I understood. I'd done that before, when I wanted a little bit of information on Bella. Except I hadn't actually been _in_ the room at the time.

"For what?" Jasper asked.

"Information," James replied calmly. "We still have a purpose here."

The entirety of the lunch period was passed that way, with one of us asking a question about their heritage, and James answering. Aria never shook out of her trance until the bell rang.

James tapped her on the shoulder. "Aria."

Her eyes became focused again. "Done, already?" she sighed.

"Anything?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Nothing," she said. "Then again, I only searched this room, and they might have caught our scent…" she didn't finish the sentence.

"Is everything alright?" Bella asked Aria.

Aria looked up at her and smiled. "Fine, just…frustrating." I could tell she was glad for Bella's friendship. Who wouldn't be?

I didn't pay attention to any of my other classes. Somewhere halfway through sixth period, I got bored. I kindly requested a bathroom pass from the teacher, intending to roam around outside until I felt like going back into the classroom.

I ignored the silly, shallow thoughts of the teacher handing me the pass as our skin made brief contact. I could hear her heartbeat speed up.

_Calm, Anna!_ She told herself. _He is _way_ too young for you!_ Wrong. I was way too _old_ for her.

I found myself in one of the hallways of the freshman class. It held the easiest escape route – the back door of the school.

But instead of leaving, I found Aria, sitting with her back propped up against the lockers, her head in her hands.

I slowly approached her, intent on discovering whether she could actually hear that well or not. I was about a foot away from her, about to reach out and touch her shoulder, when she suddenly rocketed of the wall, flipped over my extended arm, and landed on her feet on the other side of the hallway, crouched and ready for battle.

"What the hell?" I gasped.

Aria looked at me, realized who I was, and sighed. She straightened out of her battle stance. "Why, Edward? It's instinct for me to do that. I could've hurt you." She didn't look at me as she went back to her original position, sitting against the lockers.

"How did you do that?" I asked. She had to be some sort of professional gymnast or something. No one I knew could flip over that fast, and from a sitting position.

"We're trained to do that," Aria said, her head still in her hands. "Too many people have tried to attack us. What did you want, anyway?"

"Why are you out here?" I decided to ignore her question, because the answer would've been an Emmett-like experiment to see if she could hear me or not.

"Is it any of your business?" Her tone didn't surprise me. I couldn't be her most favorite person in the world at this point.

I sat down next to her, keeping her company, as Alice had said. "As one supernatural creature to another, yes, it is."

She sighed, and lifted her head out of her hands. "I can't find _anything_. I've scoured the thoughts of every single student in this school, and…_nothing_."

"What are you trying to find?"

"To put it simply, traces of hostility, anger, fear, or anything that would act as an alert."

"Okay, but why do you want to find that?"

"It's part of the mission we were sent here on." She didn't elaborate after that. It was obvious that she didn't feel comfortable discussing this stuff with me.

"You can tell me, you know. I'd like to, if I could, help with this…mission." I spoke the truth. I did want to help. Why not build an alliance with a three thousand year-old species? It might help us one day.

"I don't trust you." Aria's lantern-like green eyes held eons worth of hate, anger, and betrayal. I wanted to fix that.

"Why?" I asked, not at all surprised by her answer. But I could fix that.

"Give me one good reason why I should," she said through clenched teeth. Like Bella, I wished I could read her mind. I hated not having that particular insight.

"And stop wishing you could read my mind," she added. I just looked at her, shocked. She laughed. "The look on your face," she said, answering my unspoken question. "It feels like you're trying to read my face. Don't worry, I can't read your mind, though. We're even."

"Your face is pretty much unreadable," I muttered. "Do they teach you that, too? How to cover your emotions?"

"Pretty damn well," she said. "Now give me a reason."

I thought about it. "Because we might be able to help," I said. "Two species working together to find this thing could help annihilate it."

"How about this: I don't _want_ to trust you," she said, in a scathing tone that could put even Rosalie to shame.

"Why?" I asked. I wasn't hurt, just curious. Why could she not trust me?

"When were you born, Edward?"

Her question threw me off guard.

"What?"

"I said, 'When were you born?'" she repeated.

"Um…1901," I said.

"That's why you can't understand why I don't trust you," she said, as if it were as obvious as a simple math problem. "We're from different time eras. It's that simple."

"I don't see how time can affect why you can't trust me," I persisted. I seriously didn't know why I wanted her to trust me, apart from the convenience factor. In truth, she reminded me someone's little sister – maybe mine?

"We grew up in different eras," she explained. "Our…_upbringings_ differ – a lot."

"So how does yours differ from mine?" I asked, curious. I wanted to hear her story – how is a half blood child raised?

"I'm not answering that now," she said stiffly.

"But—"

"_Now_," she reiterated. "Maybe tomorrow. Or next year. I don't know." She pushed herself up to a standing position.

"Why not now?" I asked, confused.

"I'm not ready," she said, looking over her shoulder at me. She didn't have to speak any louder – she knew I could hear. I watched as she glided into one of the freshman classrooms, and briefly wondered why she wouldn't have a bathroom pass.

Oh, wait. The Mist. That weird thing where they could fool people. That must be convenient.

I sat there for a moment, pondering her answer. Why wouldn't she be ready? I guess I could understand a bit; it had taken me a while to confess to Bella what I _truly_ was. It was hard, preparing to tell someone something. Even if you didn't give a damn about the other person, which is what I guessed Aria gave about me.

But still, if she needed the help, I was sure that my family would be more than willing.

Even if Rosalie were not, Carlisle would make sure that these half God children got the help that they needed.

I sighed and got up. The teacher would start wondering why I had taken so long in the bathroom. And maybe start having one of her ridiculous fantasies again. I wondered if Aria could read _my _face – but that was unlikely. I'd been told that my features were similar to stone. Or, in Bella's opinion, diamond.

Thoughts of a demigod's past haunted me the entire day. How would she have grown up? What could have happened that took all ability to trust out of her?

Surely she had to trust some people – her boyfriend, for example. Her mom? Her dad? Were either of them even around her anymore?  
I settled on the idea of asking her about her family – her past, too. We really knew nothing about these little children.

It was time to start finding out.

**A/N: Okay, hi. I said I'd have an AN at the end. So here I am. Please review guys! I'm actually at a **_**fork**_** in the road here (pun intended) and I'm wondering if I should include the werewolves or not. I don't want to throw in complications (ex: the fight in eclipse, or the triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob) but that'll differ too much from the storyline…like I said, I'm torn. Help me out here, please! **

**And review. Review, review review! I don't care if it's only a little smiley face, or simply a death threat if I don't make the werewolves show up. Just show me a little something to tell me that you're reading this! **

**And also, I need to know who to put as the monster. Go to my profile page and vote on the poll there. Thanks! **

**3 Aria **


	13. Jumps and Lions

**Chapter 14**

**A/N: Hi! Thanks to all the people who reviewed! **

**Someone asked me what James's background was: he's just another of those typical demigods – his parent lives in New York, just like Aria's mom. But he's not special in any way, other than the fact that he's dating Aria. **

**Someone else asked if Percy's wings – or Aria's – would hinder them while in the water, and that's a good question, but the answer is no. See, they can tuck their wings all the way into their backs, until where their clothing hides it. And since neither of them get wet in the water, their clothes won't get soaked through and this doesn't bother their wings. Although, some fish do find feathers quite tasty….:P **

**So I hope that answers the questions. Now, back to the story, and remember, reviews make little people happy! Make a little person happy! :) **

**Edward's POV**

Bella was coming to my house today, just to be with our family and me. She – both of us – already considered her part of the family, a family whom we both knew she would join one day. Even if she was so averse to the idea of the big, grand, wedding, that Alice had planned out.

"Can we go to the meadow?" Bella asked me, as I parked my car in front of my house.

I frowned. "Don't you have homework?"

She shook her head, her beautiful brown hair gliding around her face. "I finished it."

I grinned and kissed her. "In that case, yes." I pulled her onto my back and headed off for the meadow. Alice would tell the others where I went.

"I still can't get over the beauty of this place," Bella said, as she fell to the grass, sighing in content.

"I still can't get over _your _beauty," I said, caressing her cheek softly. She smiled at me, and leaned forward for a kiss.

Our kiss started slow, and sweet. But then, like all the others, it built into something more…passionate. Intense. Intimate. I could feel her tongue pushing at my lips, and I had to remind myself why we had to wait until marriage. Again.

_Self control,_ I told myself. It was hard to manage, especially when I had the world's most perfect girl kissing me.

"Are you purposely trying to undermine my self control?" I demanded when she pulled away for air.

Bella giggled, and I swear it was the most beautiful sound on the entire planet. "Can you let it slip, just for one minute?"

I sighed and laid my head back on the grass. Bella clambered on top of me, like a little child. "You don't know what you're asking for, Bella," I said.

"I do know," she insisted.

"Remember the condition?" I said. "Marriage."

She scowled at me. I pushed myself forward to kiss her, wiping the frown from her face. She could never scowl very much around me.

True to that, she was smiling when I pulled away. We lay there for a while, me listening to the comforting sound of her heart beat, and she drinking in the consistent beauty of the meadow.

I was focusing on the rhythm of her heart – a steady beat, always constant – when I began to hear two background beats.

_Huh?_

I thought I was just hearing things, but then these background beats began overtaking Bella's heartbeat, each with it's own ribbon of melody and sound.

I sat up, listening more carefully for the location of the heartbeats, though I had no doubt in my mind of who it could be.

"Edward?" Bella asked, looking worried at the expression on my face. "What is it?"  
"There's someone near," I murmured. "Human…or half human…" I trailed off.

Bella got up, saw the direction that I was looking in, and began walking towards that direction.

"You want to see them?" I asked, for now, there was absolutely no doubt of who the heartbeats belonged to.

"Yes," Bella replied calmly. "I want to see her. She's my friend."

I didn't bother to comment on this. It wasn't my place to control who Bella was friends with, but I couldn't help thinking that Aria was dangerous.

We walked until we reached a little clearing, about a half mile away from our original meadow. I'd never known it was here, but then again, it was so tiny.

We stood there, confused. I knew they must be around here somewhere, because the heartbeats were the loudest at this exact point. A soft laugh suddenly reached my ears, and I looked up just in time to see Aria, running at a tree in full speed. I was about to yell out to her to stop, lest she would crash, but her feet scampered up the trunk of the tree as fast as a monkey. When she reached the lowest branch, which was pretty high up, she became a flying blur – turning over and over in the air, spinning like a top. She was so close to the ground, flying like an angel. But her wings weren't out. She lifted her arms up, eyes closed – the picture of a peaceful death.

James was waiting, in the middle of the meadow. I don't know how he appeared there without either of us noticed before. Bella gasped as James caught Aria, holding her like one would hold a bride. She smiled, laughing softly again. He kissed her lightly, and then she leapt out of his arms and onto the ground. She seemed as light as a feather, dancing everywhere, her feet never touching the ground for too long.

I watched her, dancing and leaping across the tufts of grass, and I realized, that she was _happy_. James was with her – laughing and catching her whenever he could.

That girl reminded me of Alice more and more.

"Aria!" Bella called out. I half wished she hadn't – it had been so beautiful to watch her.

"Bella!" Aria said enthusiastically. She rushed towards Bella, intending to hug her, but then she caught sight of my expression. I pushed Bella halfway behind me.

Aria frowned. "How long have you been watching?"

"Since you jumped off the tree," Bella said. "Is that how you train?"

James nodded, coming to stand next to Aria. "It's important that we keep ourselves used to the feeling of flying." He looked at my protective stance. "Oh, and Edward, we're not here to hurt anyone. You can stop suffocating Bella."

Bella smiled, and pushed me out of her way. "It looked like dancing," she said. "The way you were floating across the field like that. It's so…graceful."

"Thanks," Aria said, laughing. "It takes a long time to perfect that."

"Can I learn?" Bella asked eagerly.

"Aren't you supposed to be the clumsy one?" James said. "I've been hearing it in the humans' thoughts all day."

Bella blushed, the beautiful red staining her cheeks. "Oh. Right."

"I bet Alice can do it," Aria commented. "The coordination is present, and she's definitely light enough."

I nodded. "She does, sometimes. You reminded me of her, a little bit, when you were like that." I remembered the way James had caught her, how she had so easily been able to let go of the tree and fly away through the air.

Aria watched my face, as if reading the thoughts that went through my head. Bella turned to look at her. "He's thinking," Aria said, answering the question of her thought.

"Teach me how to fly," Bella begged.

James laughed, but it was a happy laugh. "As long as you don't fall," he said.

Bella twirled around once, on her toes, like a ballerina. "See?" she stumbled as she came to a halt. Aria rushed forward, grasping her elbow before she could completely topple over. "Thanks," Bella said, blushing again.

I was still pondering the level of trust between James and Aria. She, again, was watching my face.

"James, why don't you show Bella some of the tricks you can do?" Aria suggested, and I knew it was for my benefit.

"What's wrong?" she asked, as soon as James and Bella had drifted off. He was flipping over and over in midair, showing her exactly how much he could do. I knew I should feel jealous, but I couldn't, because I could see precisely how much he loved Aria.

"You trust him," I said.

She laughed – a scorning laugh. "I'd be a fool if I didn't. Not to mention dead."

"And you trust Bella," I pointed out.

"Because she can't hurt me," she pointed out simply. "I trust her because I know that even if she could, she wouldn't. She's my friend."

"So why can't you learn to trust us? Me?"

"It's barely been a few hours since our last conversation; can't you give me a break?" she demanded. "We were seriously considering taking up Esme on her offer – the place we're staying is pretty bad – but how can we, if you're going to keep bothering us?"

"What's the other reason?" I asked. "There has to be another reason for not wanting to stay in a better place."

Aria refused to meet my gaze. "How much can you control yourself around humans?" she asked.

"For over ninety years, I've been managing," I said. "My siblings have too. Besides, your blood…James's blood, it isn't appealing to us. It isn't the blood of humans. It's the blood of the gods." It felt odd, to me, just to say that. Until this morning, I hadn't believed Carlisle one bit. Now, I did.

She nodded, like she understood. "Maybe we will, maybe we won't." She got up, spinning around again, away from me.

"Wait," I said, grabbing her arm. Her eyes, for a millisecond, were filled with hate and anger and fury – all the horrible emotions. Her arm moved as if to withdraw a knife, but she stopped the motion. I knew that we were both remembering the first time I did this – the first time I met her.

"What?" she said, yanking her arm out of my grasp.

"Don't hurt Bella," I pleaded.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied. She danced away, lightly flipping over every now and then. James was now trying to help Bella spin without falling, and they were both having a blast. Aria didn't join them, though. She wandered of to the nearest tree, and looked up at it.

I knew she wanted to be left alone, to think, but I couldn't help but watch.

She stared up at the tree for a second, as if pondering its existence. Within the space of a second, she had crouched and jumped – grasping onto the lowest branch of the tree. She swung herself over with the ease of an artist – so gracefully, so cleanly. If I could've imagined a littler Alice, she would've been that.

Standing on the thin branch of the tree, she closed her eyes and stretched her arms out wide. I watched, sure I was witnessing a suicide scene. Then I realized that that thought was silly.

I could _hear_ her take a deep breath, all the way across the clearing. She flipped over backwards – I couldn't see her, she was moving so fast – and landed on the branch above her, arms outstretched, eyes still closed.

_She's at peace_, I realized. She's only really at peace when she's flying.

The shock of it hit me. The peace I felt with Bella, and while running – was that what she was feeling now?

James had drifted over to her, and Bella came to stand next to me. I lifted her up, twirling her around in my arms, letting the sound of her giggle wash over me.

She nudged me. "Watch." She pointed towards James and Aria.

"Aria," James said, soft enough so I could hear, but Bella couldn't. "Jump."

She smiled, her eyes still closed. Quickly, she flipped up another branch, scooting to the edge closest to the tree.

Backwards, she fell, tumbling over and over, falling through the air like a bird.

James caught her easily, and set her down immediately, only to pull her close to him again.

Bella burst into applause. "That was _so_ cool! How long did it take you to learn to do that?"

"You don't _learn_ to do that," Aria said. "If you're talking about all the backflips. It's second nature."

"So you've never, like, _practiced_ that move?" Bella asked, her curiosity evident in her tone.

"Of course not," Aria scoffed. "Why would I need to?"

"How else would you know that James could catch you?" Bella persisted.

"Because she trusts me," James said, wrapping his arms around her waist. I saw Aria's eyes flicker towards me once.

Bella frowned. "Oh. I thought it would be like, one of those cool things where you'd have to practice for a decade just to get it right."

"No, that's not it," Aria said. "Though it did take a while just to work up enough resistance to stop my wings from just flapping out when I jump."

"So is it possible for me to learn—" Bella's eager words were cut short by a growl coming from the thicket of trees behind me.

"What the…" I heard Aria gasp. Another low growl sounded.

_A vampire_? I thought. But I would've heard footsteps.

I heard a little movement, and then both Aria and James tensed. Surprised, I turned around to face a very large, and very ugly, lion, staring me down.

"The Nemean Lion," I heard Aria whisper, frightened.

And then all hell broke loose.

**A/N: Heads up, I want reviews! I ain't updating till this chapter gets at _least_ five reviews. I already have two - which is great, thanks so much to those two people! but i still want more...i feel like a beggar :P**

**As soon as i get my reviews, I'll update two more chapters, just cuz I feel nice. REVIEW! :D:D:D**

**XD Aria**


	14. Unfair

**Chapter 15**

**A/N: Hey, guys! So, I've gotten my four reviews and thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! Also, thanks to **_**blazzer12**_** who gave me the idea to write a side story about Aria's history, and maybe James's. That'll be coming up in couple weeks. For now, I'm updating two chapters at once, just to keep all of you happy. Enjoy! And review!**

**Aria's POV**

_Oh my fucking gods_.

That was the first thought that crossed my mind as the Nemean Lion jumped towards me.

Instinctively, I rolled out of the way, dragging James with me.

"Run, Edward!" James yelled, and I saw him hurl Bella onto his back and sprint for the edge of the trees.

I dodged again as the lion's paw attempted to swipe at my head.

_What the fuck is it doing here?_ I thought. _Could it be—_

I stopped all comprehensive thought when the stupid lion vaulted straight at me. Muttering curses under my breath, I jumped upwards as I high as I could and landed just inches away from its tail.

_What the hell am I doing,_ I thought. _I haven't even gotten my sword out yet._ I pushed up my left sleeve to where the sparkling bracelet lay, and slapped it. Quickly, it transformed into a sword.

Yes, I know it's a lot like my brother's sword. It's actually a present from him.

The lion turned its attention to James. I leapt in front of him immediately, though he had his own dagger out.

I knew that neither of our weapons would work unless it opened its stupid mouth.

I hate monsters. Have I already said that?

The lion took another swipe at me, and I felt a rush of panic.

_Percy! Percy!_ I screamed futilely in my mind. It was only an old habit, to yell for him, but I knew he was too far away to help.

_Aria, we need a battle plan_, I heard James think. He was dodging the lion's spiked tail, while I was dodging the mouth. A double-bladed monster. Perfect.

_It's mouth, _I thought in response. _It's only vulnerable spot is its mouth_.

_Then we'll hit its mouth_, James thought determinedly.

_Not likely_, I thought, barely avoiding the lion's jaws again. This damn thing was certainly fast.

Since no help or no available option seemed to be on the way, I decided to do something that I knew I would regret.

I extended my wings very slightly, ready to jump when I needed to. When the lion was looking at James, it's mouth open in a taut snarl, I lunged towards it, sword out, intending to drive it straight through the mouth.

"No, Aria!" I heard James shout, just as I lunged. But I was too late. The lion sensed me, turned, and opened its mouth.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—_

The gut-wrenching sound of the ripping of feathers reached my ears, and I realized that the lion had torn half my wing off.

I fell to the ground screaming in pain. Everything started to go hazy, with red tinges at the edges. All I was aware of was the incessant pain from my right shoulder.

Someone was hitting it with a battering ram. It was being set on fire and ripped out repeatedly. Nothing was potent enough to describe the pain that the lion had caused me.

Somewhere through the haze, I saw James winding his way around the lion, and I saw another figure emerge from the trees.

_Edward_.

He leaped towards the lion, hands ready, but he didn't know that he couldn't do anything. This monster's skin was impenetrable.

"No!" I screamed, but again, I was too late. The lion threw Edward to the side as easily as he would have a rag doll.

The pain was becoming worse and worse and worse with each passing second. The constant thrumming of someone's heartbeat jarred my head, making it seem like the entire forest was throbbing with the red haze of my pain. It split my body wide open, leaving me heaving for air.

Blackness began threatening to overwhelm my vision. I was almost grateful for a relief from the pain. James danced in and out of my vision, and the last thing I saw was him throwing his dagger straight into the roof of the lion's mouth.

And then the knife of the pain ripped straight through my own chest, and everything went black.


	15. Soon

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: I decided to give two chapters at once, since the last one was brutally short, but this one is short too. Heads up, I've closed the poll. I won't be displaying the results since I don't want people to know beforehand, but I'm taking it off of my profile. Anyways, Enjoy! Remember to review! :D **

**Unknown POV**

My plan did not work.

The Nemean Lion was supposed to finish off those two demigods. It failed. Drastically.

As I stood in the shadow of the trees, I watched the half blood boy hurl his knife into the mouth of my minion. And it fell, shaking the trees with the force.

The boy and the vampire crouched over the girl – she had been injured. At least the lion had done that part right. I could see the blood seeping from her mutilated wing – half of it had been torn off.

I turned away, disgusted with the failure of my intentions.

_Kill them,_ She had commanded. Her supreme voice had given out the orders, knowing she would be obeyed. _They pose too much of a threat_.

My leader, our leader… She wanted them dead. She wanted those two half bloods to be wiped off the face of the earth.

When they came to Forks High School, the job was proven to be slightly easier. In New York, both of them were too protected, too guarded. And there were too many of them.

But the mission had failed. Despite our best efforts at training the lion, it had still failed to kill either the girl or the boy. Or the vampire with them.

The human? The human was sheltered away in the vampires' care, and no one spared her a second thought. When Her great plan was complete, no one would spare any humans a second thought.

_Only the supreme race would rule the world. _

_They are dangerous…dangerous to the safety of the superior race…_

They had to be killed. Every single one of them. Starting with these two – one of the most important half bloods to ever live; she had to die first.

Blood split on open ground would tempt the vampires; they wouldn't be able to stay away.

Two birds with one stone.

Or was it two half bloods with one monster? Who knows.

But _She_ wouldn't be happy about the failure. It was supposed to be quick, methodical, no unnecessary losses. Yet we had already lost one of our numbers – and it would take a long time to come back. The Doors of Death had been closed…but they would open again. Soon.

How soon? Soon enough for Her genius plan to set its course? Soon enough for the world to right itself, with the supreme race at the helm?

Or soon enough to witness the fall, the crushing, and the annihilation of every half blood on this planet?

_Soon enough_, I thought. _All in good time._

The girl would heal – I knew it. Half bloods - _damn them _ - and their extraordinary healing powers would make this an easier job. For them, not for us.

But they had to die.

_Soon_.

**A/N: Review! And I won't update for a while – finals :\. See you all in a couple weeks!**

**Four reviews, please. please. please. Yay :) **


	16. Broken Awkwardness

**Chapter 17**

**A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry for the delay – but my finals are over! Thank the gods! :) So, here's the next chapter of Green Eyes. I hope this meets any expectations, and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Remember to review this one! Pretty please, guys, make it to at least four reviews? Show me a little love here? **

**Okay, I'll stop begging now! Just review! :) **

**Aria's POV**

I woke up to incessant, unwavering, bone-shattering pain.

What a nice way to wake up.

"I think she's awake," I heard someone say softly. I tried to get up, but the pain flared up, shooting me back down.

"Aria?" I heard a familiar voice say. "Are you awake?"

_Please be awake, please be awake—_someone's mind screamed at me.

"Aria?" the familiar voice said again. It sounded too good to be real, and I wished that the owner of this voice was actually _here_, but no, that was impossible.

"Are you awake?" the voice asked.

_He's here_!

"Percy?" I muttered.

"I'm here, sweetie," he said.

I opened my eyes. "You're here! Oh my gods, how did you get here so—" I tried to sit up, and then was pushed back down by two pairs of strong arms.

"Don't try getting up," James said, appearing in my vision. "Your wounds might open up again."

Wounds? Oh, wait. It all came rushing back to me in that second. _The Nemean Lion. James. Edward. Blood. Torn wings_.

I gasped. "What _happened_?"  
Someone moved in a corner of the room, catching my peripheral vision. "A lion attacked," Edward said, shifting from the edge of the room. "And it…"

"It bit off half your wing," Percy said, tears filling his green eyes, so much like mine.

I felt the tears well up behind my own eyes. I could remember the ripping sound, the pain, and most of all the feeling of _failure_. I was supposed to be strong, unbeatable. And I had let a simple monster knock me unconscious and nearly kill my boyfriend.

"Don't cry, Aria," Percy said, pulling me into a hug. Only then I realized that tears were beginning to stream down my face. "We can give you painkillers if its too much."

"It's not that," I sobbed. "I _failed_. Nine years of mortal world training – _nine years_ – and all it did was nothing!"

"Shh," he said soothingly, stroking my hair. "It's okay. It's fine. No one blames you."

"What if that happens again?" I asked, still fighting the racking sobs. "What if – what if another monsters finds us, and I can't do anything?"

"It's not something you need to worry about now," James said, from my left. "All you need to worry about is your wing."

That brought me back to reality. I wiggled my way out of Percy's arms and tried to get a look at my wing, and nearly passed out.

_Oh gods_.

Half of it was ripped off, right at the joint. The edges of the feathers were dark with matted blood, and the bones spewed out at odd angles.

"Don't look," Percy advised, pulling me back to him.

"How long?" I choked out, still unable to wrench my eyes away from the gruesome sight.

"About two months," James said softly. "To grow back, at least."

I gasped. "Two _months_? Two months without flying?"

Both of them nodded sadly at me. I looked up at Percy again. He seemed to be trying to keep a brave face for me, but it wasn't working. I could see right through him.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" I asked him.

"I heard you screaming my name," he said. "I've been keeping an eye – or more likely, ear – out for you, and I heard it. Nico brought me here as fast as he could. We shadow traveled."

I looked around, and sure enough, Nico was standing at the furthest corner possible, leaning on his double-bladed Stygian Iron sword and looking very intimidating.

Such a subtle person, my cousin is.

He nodded at me. "How're you feeling?"

"Like crap," I said, half joking. I heard a chuckle come from one of the vampires, who I only now realized were still in the room. All of them. They'd seen me sob.

_Damnit._

Nico was looking nervous, and very on the edge. He kept glancing at the possible escape routes – window, door, and skylight.

_They're not going to hurt you_, I told him.

_They seem like it,_ he retorted.

"No, they're not," I said aloud. Everyone except James and Percy looked at me oddly, those two having already heard the sentence exchange.

"Are you two having an Alice and Edward talk?" Emmett asked, breaking the silence after I spoke.

I frowned. "What's that?"

"It's where they communicate with each other without words," he explained. "It's as annoying as hell."

"In that case, yes," I said. Edward chuckled, and for the first time, I noticed Bella, wrapped in his arms, slightly turned away from me. Catching my eyes, she grinned at me.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry, I don't really have a stomach for blood. It smells bad."

_How does she stand it when she's on her period, then?_ I thought to myself, disregarding the three male mind readers in the room. Well, four, but that one didn't count.

"Whoa!" Nico put his hands over his ears. James had pretty much the same reaction.

"That was TMI," James said, looking pained. "I did _not_ need to hear that."

"Come on, guys, it's not a big deal," I said.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "You'll have to get used to it at one point."

_Period period period period period_—I started chanting in my head.

"Shut it!" Nico yelled.

"She's not saying anything," Jasper said.

"No, she is," Percy countered. "You just can't hear it, 'cause you're a vampire."

"Well, then half blood—" Jasper started, half angry.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Don't fight, we don't want Aria to over exert herself." He looked over at me. "You won't be able to get out of bed for a couple days – your legs were hurt too."

I lifted the covers to find some casts draped over my legs. I looked up at Percy.

_Ambrosia_? He asked me, knowing what I wanted. I nodded. He fished the godly snack out of his bag and gave me a little piece.

I ate it, and it tasted just like heaven for me – warm apple pie with whipped cream. "Thanks," I said. I threw the casts off of my legs and leapt out of bed, careful not to move my hurt wing.

Carlisle gasped. "No! How—"

"We have accelerated healing rates," Percy explained.

I looked back at my wings. The other, non-torn one was folded against my back, tucked inside of my shirt. I sighed. How was I supposed to go without flying for two entire months? I couldn't even live without for a couple days.

"You'll deal," Nico said. "I had to, too. It wasn't that bad."

I scowled at him. "So…" I didn't want to ask the question that was really on my mind.

"You're wondering how you couldn't fight the lion this time after already fighting it, when you were much younger?" James said shrewdly. I'd forgotten that he could read the really deep thoughts of my mind.

"Yes," I said grudgingly. "I was eight the last time I fought it! How could I not beat it this time?"

"You were _eight_?" Bella gasped. "Why would you have to fight something so brutal at such a young age?"

I waved my hand at her, disregarding her question. "So, why?"  
Percy sighed. "Can we discuss this later?" he said out loud. To me, he thought, _I don't want the vampires knowing what I need to say_. _I'll call you tonight and tell you._

I nodded.

Edward regarded both of us with shrewd eyes. "Oh, I get it. You don't want us to hear anything we're not supposed to hear."

Percy's skin was tinted just the tiniest bit with his embarrassment. I'm sure mine was too.

Esme cleared her throat to get our attention. "Well," she said. "Since Aria's obviously injured, I don't think it's a good idea for her to go back to where she's been staying."

"Oh, yeah, humans definitely won't want an injured bird in their house," Emmett said, grinning slightly. If he kept this dry humor up, he'd be looking at his torn off arm in his other arm.

Courtesy of me.

"Are you suggesting that Aria and James stay here?" Percy said, his brow furrowing.

"If they don't mind, I think it would be best for all of us," Esme said. "Of course, you and—" she stopped, not knowing what name to put in for the fourth half blood leaning against his sword.

"Nico," I supplied.

"You and Nico," Esme continued. "Are welcome to stay here as well."

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Nico, under no circumstances, wanted to stay here. In fact, he was just itching to get out of here.

"I don't think we can," Percy said, also realizing Nico's attitude. "We have to be back as soon as possible." He looked at me as he said the last sentence, with apology and regret in his eyes.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm fine. I'll be extra careful now."

"And so I will I," James said, resting his arm on my good shoulder.

"I know," Percy sighed. "Chiron expects us back – everyone's getting more restless with the impending war."

I half wished he hadn't spoken the last couple words aloud.

"War?" Alice gasped. "There's a _war_?"

_Shit_. Percy's expletive echoed around my brain.

"No," I said quickly. "It's a… figure of speech."

Nico shot me a look of approval at my quick save.

"I have to get going, anyway," Percy said, hugging me quickly, and then James. Nico nodded at me once, before hitching his sword back onto the belt loop in his jeans.

"Say hi to Hazel," I told Nico. I had missed my Roman friend.

"Will do," he said. "Bye."

Percy waved once more before walking out the door with Nico. I sighed, knowing what would happen next. They'd find some patch of darkness and Nico would transport them back to Camp Half-Blood, all the way across the country.

I wish they could've stayed longer.

"Well," Esme said, breaking the silence. "I'll go get your room ready." She left the room, with Carlisle following behind her.

James and I were left with five vampires and a human staring at us like we had just walked in from another planet.

_Oh wait…_

"So, what were we not supposed to know?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at him. "What makes you think they're going to tell you?"

Edward chuckled. "If they did, I'm sure even Alice would be floored."

"Nice, considering I can't even see the future when they're here," Alice said, looking grumpy. "Two freaking huge blind spots. Fantastic."

James and I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Bella sighed. "Look, they're feeling uncomfortable."

"Freaking psychic," I muttered under my breath, knowing that she would be the only one not to hear.

"Do you want any medicine for your wing or something?" Rosalie asked, looking at me.

"No, I'm good," I told her. I wondered if we had an extra stash of nectar and ambrosia. James squeezed my arm briefly, confirming an affirmative to that question.

"How long are you guys going to stay here?" Bella asked us.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're going to have to stay until your wing heals," Jasper pointed out, his Southern drawl laced with smugness. He knew that I wouldn't want to stay here. Screw it.

"So, do I need to go get our stuff from the Newtons' place?" James said, posing the question to the room at large.

"You're staying at the Newtons'?" Bella asked. "Whoa. That's weird."

I heard Edward mutter a few choice words about Mike under his breath.

"Whoa, temper," I told him. "Mike actually isn't that bad."

The entire room looked at me like I was mental.

"Kidding," I said. "You should hear his thoughts."

"I do," Edward said. "And that's what makes him so annoying."

I smiled to myself, remembering the attitude of his thoughts towards Bella. Edward certainly wouldn't like that.

"So, I'm going to go get our things, okay?" James told me. "Mist the Newtons if you can. I don't want to explain anything."

I nodded. I was fairly sure that I would be able to work the magical veil over them from even this distance.

James kissed me lightly on the cheek before running out of the house at top speed. If he kept up that rate, he'd be back before the minute hand moved ten minutes.

An awkward silence fell.

"So…" Bella started.

I could feel the adrenaline of the attack draining from me slowly, and I felt more relaxed with each breath.

It was then that I realized that I was in a room of vampires, with an injured, broken wing, and only a frail human as proof that they could control their temper.

It was also then that the panic began to set in.

**A/N: So, I'm also going to put up a story of Aria's background. It's going to be a couple long chapters, detailing different ages. It might take a while to get the second chapter out, though, but the first will definitely be out by Sunday. It's going to be titled _The Abnormal One_. Look out for it, and please review! :) **


	17. Overprotective Brothers

**Chapter 18**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. New chapters of **_**The Abnormal One**_** will be coming out soon! **

** Now, review, and review again! And while you're at it, review **_**The Abnormal One.**_** (TOA) It needs some love too! :) **

**Edward's POV**

I had never guessed that Aria's brother would be so much like her. The black hair, green eyes, facial structure, attitude, _everything_.

The moment he and the other boy stumbled out of the shadows of the forest, I knew that he was her brother. His now-familiar, bright green eyes, were clouded with anxiety and worry, and weirdly, rage.

Huh. Maybe it was a reaction to the monster.

At the moment, I had been carrying her in my arms, intent on getting her safely to the house and to Carlisle's care. James was dragging along behind me, slightly injured but unwilling to leave her side.

"Give her to me." Those were the first words he spoke to me. He had rushed to Aria, his arms out, demanding that I give his sister to him. Wordlessly, I'd handed her limp body to him.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," he whispered to her. The other boy lagged behind, as to provide support for James. I only briefly took in his appearance. Messy black hair, dark eyes, sword stuck to his belt – yup, this one was dangerous.

Aria shifted slightly in her brother's arms; I could tell that she sensed the change. He was obviously warmer, and maybe more gentle with her.

We ran all the way back to the house, where Alice had already warned Carlisle of what had happened.

"Oh my gosh," Esme gasped, looking at her broken form in shock. Her mangled wing was drooping off of her body, and the blood had covered her entire side. Luckily, all of us had had plenty of practice, with Bella around, to resist the blood.

Rosalie, surprisingly, offered to tend to James's wounds. Maybe it was the mothering instinct coming out in her. She cleaned up the blood and splinted his hurt leg, but he didn't seem to notice. All he could do was look worriedly at Aria, raising his eyes to the heavens every now and then, as if praying that she would be okay.

Once Carlisle was tending to Aria, her brother looked up at me.

"Can I talk to you outside?" he asked.

I nodded, not sure what to say. I followed him outside, but not to a place where no one could hear us. I could hear Alice keeping tabs on what I would do.

"So…" he started. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm her brother, Percy."

"I could tell," I said.

"Right…" He looked at me curiously. "So you're really a vampire?"

"In the flesh." I nodded.

"More like stone," he quipped.

I laughed, surprised. I couldn't help it. But my face fell back to seriousness once more. "Is she going to be okay?"

Percy nodded. "It'll take a while for her to heal, and she'll be miserable for that entire time, but yeah, she'll be fine."

"Who's the other boy?" I asked.

"Oh, him? That's Nico. He's our cousin, technically. Hell, everyone is our cousin. But he's a child of Hades, another Big Three kid."

"Ah," I said. I honestly didn't know what else to say.

"Look, Edward," Percy started, and I could hear the anxiety in his tone. "I'm not thrilled with the idea of her staying in your house. No offense meant, but as the big brother, I'm always going to be a little paranoid."

"I get it," I said. "Does your…dad…know?"

Percy nodded, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. It looked like a nervous gesture. "He figured out pretty quickly, once Aria got hurt. He's kind of attuned to any blood of his children spilt."

I nodded. It was pretty cool, actually.

"So, I'm warning you right now, if any harm comes to her when she's in your care – or your parents, or whatever – I'm going to hold all of you responsible," he continued. "I don't care whether its your fault or not." His green eyes blazed with the fire of protection.

"Don't worry about that," I said. "I care for her like a little sister." As soon as I said the words, I realized they were true. I'd been comparing her to Alice so much, that I saw her as a little sister now. I couldn't let any harm come to them. "I won't let anything hurt her. Or James."

Percy sighed in obvious relief. "Thank the gods," he said. "I was so worried."

"Don't be." I tried to sound nice.

"Let's go back inside," he said. "I can hear her thoughts becoming more coherent."

We walked back inside, and I could feel everyone's eyes on us. Of course, they all knew what had gone down.

_Like a little sister_? Alice's thoughts invaded my head. _Aww, that's so sweet!_

I ignored her for the time being.

_Another addition to our family, _Esme was happily thinking.

_More pranks, more pranks…_ Emmett mused. I shot him a sharp look. _Okay, maybe no pranks…_

Aria stirred awake. I didn't watch her and Percy's reunion – it was too family-like to intrude.

The other boy, Nico, kept glancing at me, and I wished for the thousandth time that I could read his mind.

Jasper was shifting nervously behind me. At one point, he pulled Alice close to him, and I could tell that he was uncomfortable with the current settings. Or, more specifically, uncomfortable with being around a four foot long iron blade.

The kid kept twirling it around and leaning on it, trying to be intimidating. It was working on Jasper. Me? Not so much.

I turned away when Aria began to cry. I didn't want to see her hurt, no matter what species she was. The protective instinct rose up in me again.

The way Bella clung to me, I could tell that she wasn't happy about either of them being hurt, either. The smell of blood still permeated the room, but it didn't affect us any more than it should. If anything, Bella was more affected than the rest of us.

We watched in relative silence as the four of them conducted their family affairs, Aria testing her broken wing, and suddenly, her leg healing of its own accord.

I made a mental note to ask her about that later. I heard Percy's promise in the undertone of his voice, to tell her later what was happening with the monster. When Aria mentioned the word _war_, Alice freaked out.

"War?" Alice gasped. "There's a _war_?"

I also witnessed Aria's quick save. Another mental note for a question. How many secrets did this girl have?

Pretty soon, Percy and Nico left, with James right after them to retrieve their belongings from the Newton household – which, frankly, I was surprised she was staying at.

How had they survived that long without killing him already? I mean, they could read his thoughts. Didn't it infuriate them?

I muttered a few curse words under my breath about Mike.

"Whoa, temper," Aria reprimanded. "Mike isn't actually that bad."

I just looked at her like she should be in an asylum.

And then James left, leaving an injured demigod in the care of five vampires and a human.

I could see that Aria realized it at the same time I did. Her pupils dilated momentarily, and her good arm twitched – like she was getting ready to throw a punch.

"So…" Emmett said, half under his breath. "Know any good pranks?"

Rosalie smacked his head, but Aria grinned shiftily.

"Don't torture her already," Alice scolded.

It was the wrong word to use. Aria flinched, as if remembering something, and took a step back.

"She didn't mean it that way," Bella said quickly. She tried stepping forward towards Aria, but I held her waist so that she couldn't move.

It was clear the Aria was very, _very_ uncomfortable being alone in a room with us.

Before I could have time to warn anyone, Jasper stepped forward, for god-knows-what-reason – hang on, the gods probably did know. I'd have to stop using that expression.

Anyway, Jasper took a step forward, with one arm raised. I wasn't sure what he was about to do, but I knew it was a huge mistake.

It was as if everything was in slow motion. I could see Aria's eyes widen, the green irises dilating again in pure, unadulterated fear. She quite literally _threw_ herself backwards, her fingers stopping her from smashing into the wall by mere millimeters.

And she didn't make a sound. She wasn't even breathing anymore. The only noise in the room was Bella's ragged breathing.

For a second, Aria stayed that way, in an unmistakably defensive stance, her frightened eyes still wide.

But then, she straightened up. The shadow departed from her eyes, leaving a remorseful look there.

"Oh, god…" she trailed off, looking around her. "I'm so sorr—"

She was cut off by Bella rushing forward and throwing her arms around her.

"You better be okay," Bella's muffled voice said. It was a second before I realized that she was crying.

"I'm alright," Aria said. She reached up tentatively and hugged Bella back.

"I don't want you to die," Bella sobbed.

"I'm not going anywhere," Aria said softly. Bella clung to her tighter for a second, and then let go.

My siblings and I stared in shock.

"I'm sorry." Aria apologized to the room at large. "I'm not used to this." She looked at Jasper. "Holding up your arm is a facet of war, where I come from," she informed him.

Jasper's brow furrowed. "I didn't know. I apologize."

There was an awkward silence for a second, and then Rosalie spoke up.

"Do you want to see your room?" she asked kindly.

Aria nodded, looking at Rosalie questioningly. I guess that it was time for Rosalie's maternal instincts to surface.

Cautiously, Rosalie took Aria's hand and led her to the stairs. She threw a glare over her shoulder and I could read her thoughts: _Tell Jasper that I want to kill him._

I snickered. "Jazz, she's ready to kill you."

Jasper ran a hand through his overgrown hair. "Jeez, I didn't know I'd scare her that much."

"Ah, its time for Rosalie to be a mother," Emmett said happily. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"Quite an odd thought, considering you're immortal," Alice noted.

Bella sighed. "What did her brother want?"  
"Oh, just to make sure she'd be safe," I said. "He was quite worried about her."

She nodded. "I could tell. I can't believe it'll be _two months_ before she can fly again. Though I wonder…"

"What do you wonder?" I asked, pulling her to my side again.

"I wonder why she had fought the same monster before," Bella said. "When she was eight. And she beat it last time. Wait, how did it come back then?"

I sighed. "I guess we have a lot to learn about their world."

"I second that," Jasper said.

"We really do," Alice agreed. "Only question is, how willing will they be to tell us?"

**A/N: Review, please, review! I'm not updating until I get at least four reviews. Sorry to be such a pig, but I need my four reviews! Thanks, guys. I love you all!**

**12/22/12:**

**Guys, I've only gotten two reviews so far. No more chapters on either story until I get four on this one, please. And happy holidays to you all!**


	18. Substitute Mothers

**Chapter 19**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed again. Let me know what you think of Rosalie's instinctive motherly behavior!**

**Aria's POV**

Rosalie was being surprisingly nice. _Too_ nice, in my opinion.

"So, this is the house so far," she said, sounding a little bit nervous. I shot her a strange look.

She led me up a curving flight of stairs, which led to a floor full of bedrooms. I expected her to stop there, but she led me to another, smaller, flight of stairs, and that led to another, tinier, floor – just one bedroom and one bathroom.

"We kind of use this as the guestroom," Rosalie explained. "Though we rarely have guests. I'm guessing Esme already decorated it a little bit – she's got tons of them at the ready."

I pushed the cream-colored door open, a little cautious of what I might find inside. When I did look around, I gasped.

The walls were a brilliant shade of blue and green combined – too dark to be turquoise but too light to be aqua. It was _perfect_. There was just the right amount of purple thrown in there – and light green patterns decorated the wall, reminding me of trellises of grapevines.

The furniture was plain white, with hints of blue and purple here and there. I could tell that Esme had had our godly parents in mind. Though purple was always perceived as feminine, she had somehow managed to pull of the miracle of connoting it as masculine. _Amazing_.

A king-sized bed dominated the room, with a loveseat and a coffee table pushed off in one corner. Another door led to a closet – empty, I presumed, but right now, this room was perfect.

"What do you think?" Rosalie asked me, really sounding nervous this time.

There were no words to express how perfect this was. So I told her in the only other I knew – I hugged her.

Catching her completely by surprise, I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"It's _perfect_," I said, finally finding the words to say.

Rosalie seemed to go in shock for a moment, and then she hugged me back. But she still didn't say anything.

Realizing why this might be, I pulled away from he quickly. "I'm sorry," I stammered. "I didn't mean—"

And then I saw her face. If vampires could cry happy tears, I was sure that she would be doing so by now.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "It's just—I've always wanted a little girl to take care of, and now, it feels like all my dreams have come true." She looked at me cautiously. "Well, of course, that is, if you _want_ me to take care of you."

I giggled. "I think I'll be needing lots of care in the next two months," I said, making a slight face. I didn't want to think about it. "You always wanted a child, right?"

She nodded, looking pained.

"That's how they described you in the myths," I continued. "Because vampires are unable to change, move forward, they had the possibility of children taken away from them. And you weren't too pleased with that."

She nodded again, and then reached out to hug me. "It feels like I've gained another sister, except I can care for this one."

I smiled. I knew being here without my mother or brother would be difficult. So maybe Rosalie could help me get over missing them so much.

Just as I was thinking this, Edward came barreling into the room. He stopped short at the sight of Rosalie and I hugging.

"I heard her thoughts," he said in explanation, not even breathless like he should be from sprinting all the way up.

"Well you heard wrong," Rosalie said smugly. "You're _wrong_ for once."

"No need to do a freaking victory dance," Edward muttered.

Rosalie let go of me. "So, are you hungry or anything? I have no clue what to do about human meal times," she admitted sheepishly.

I shrugged. "I don't think I am right now, though I'll let you know when I do feel hungry. For now, I think I'll just rest, maybe contact the Camp."

Rosalie and Edward both nodded. They exited my new room, shutting the door behind them.

I sighed and collapsed on the bed, careful about not putting weight on my injured shoulder.

I dug into my pocket for a drachma. I _knew_ I had to have one in here somewhere.

Aha! I'd found it. Now how to create a rainbow? There was obviously no sunlight. I'd have to rely on my powers over water.

I tried to concentrate, but it was a little painful, given the state my wing was in. Finally, I managed to procure a thin sheet of mist in the air. I rushed over to the nearest light and flicked the switch, so that the light penetrated the sheet of mist, creating a multitude of colors.

_Splendid_.

I pulled out the drachma, said the prayer to Iris, and tossed it in.

"Jason Grace at Camp Jupiter," I said. I needed to tell him where I was – and that vampires existed.

A second later, an image of Jason, practicing with his _gladius_, was broadcast in front of me.

"Aria!" he said, looking surprised. "Why—"

"I have news," I said.

"Oh, um, okay," Jason stammered. "Hang on, where are you? It looks different…"

"That's part of it," I said. "Now listen." I waited a second to make sure I had

his attention. "Do you remember all those myths about vampires, and the Cullens?"

He nodded.

"Alright, so, here's the deal." I took a deep breath. "They're real."

"_What_?!" he shrieked, well, as much as a guy can shriek. "They're _real_?"

"Quite," I said, nodding. "I ran into one of them, James and I got sent to their hometown on a mission, we ran into each other again. I was attacked by a monster—" I ignored his stifled cry of outrage—"And we're staying with them until my wing gets better."

"The Nemean Lion bit off half your wing?" Jason asked, immediately reading my mind. "And your mission was to kill another monster?"

I nodded, confirming it.

Jason ran a hand through his hair, reminding me eerily of Jasper – or even Edward. Why did every guy run a hand through his hair.

"Ah, shit," he said, sounding defeated. "And you're in…Washington?"  
I nodded. "We're staying with them until my wing heals."

"I'm sorry about that," Jason said.

"It's fine," I said. I looked him straight in the eye for a millisecond. _Talk in Latin_, I thought, as hard as I could. I didn't want the vampires to hear this.

He seemed to understand me. "_Why_?" he asked in Latin.

"_I need to tell you something. In case things don't go too well, I'm going to need someone from your camp to come get us if we need it._"

Jason nodded. "_I'll have people ready if needed_."

"Fantastic," I said, switching back to English. "I have to go now – James is nearly here with our stuff. Tell Reyna, Hazel, and Frank that I say hi, 'kay?"

"Will do," he said. "Bye. Take care of yourself."

I nodded, and slashed my hand through the mist. A second later, James came hurtling through the window that was right behind the bed.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," James said, dropping all of our stuff onto the bed. "This is all of it." He looked around for a minute. "Whoa. Who did all this?"

"Apparently, Esme," I answered. "She decorated the entire thing."

"This is awesome," he said. He looked down at the single bed. "Did they automatically assume that we would only want one bed?"

"Are you complaining?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows pointedly.

James crossed the room and pulled me into his arms, careful of my wing. "No, I don't think I am." His mouth met mine in a soft, slow kiss. It was very chaste, and James didn't try to push it, thinking that I would still be tired. Ah, well. There was plenty of time for this stuff later.

When we broke apart, I asked him, "Do I still have to go to school tomorrow? I mean, I'm injured and all…"

James sighed and kissed my forehead. "Yes, you still have to. I kind of doubt that they'll let you go on your second day here."

I sighed as well. "That isn't fair."

"I know, sweetie. How's your wing doing?"

"So far, fine. The ambrosia helped."

"Good. We have another supply of it if you need it."

"I'll let you know," I said. "Now, did we have homework or something?"

Two hours, a bunch of freshman level homework, and a couple make-out sessions later, we'd finally finished all of our homework.

"Oh gods, that took way too long," I said, throwing my pen down. "What time is it?"

James checked his watch. "Sometime around seven thirty. Actually, I was wondering when the vampires were going to—"

And right on time, Rosalie walked into the room. I'd briefed James on her behavior, explaining how this was kind of her second chance, and he'd agreed to be nice and let her take care of us.

"Finished all of your homework, I see," Rosalie said. "Are you guys hungry?"

"A little bit," James said.

"Same," I replied.

"We have some human food in the dining room for both of you, so you can come and pick what you want," Rosalie said.

"That sounds great, Rosalie," James said.

"Thanks," I added.

"Call me Rose," she said, as we headed down the stairs. Well, more like ran. None of us had the patience to simply walk. That's how they lived in a supernatural home, didn't they?

When I saw the dining table, my jaw nearly fell off with shock.

I turned to Rosalie. "I thought you said you had _some_ human food, not four entire grocery stores!"

"I told you it was a bit much," Bella grumbled from the corner. "No one eats _that_ much."

"Are we supposed to eat all this?" James asked warily, eyeing the food. Neither him nor I had big appetites, and we were known for not eating much back at camp.

Rose laughed. "No, you don't have to eat all of it; half of it is for Bella."

"_What_?!" Bella screeched.

"She's joking," Edward chuckled. "But you do have to eat something."

I looked at all the food spread out on the table, and felt a little bit sick to my stomach. "I don't think I can eat anything at all right now."

"You've got to eat something," Carlisle said. "Your injuries need the energy to heal."

"It's the ambrosia," James told me. "You feel full."

I nodded.

"What's ambrosia?" Alice asked. Jasper looked like he was confused as well.

"It's our type of magical food," James explained. "It's kind of like an adrenaline rush, but not as harmful. It heals injuries and provides more energy."

"That sounds so cool," Emmett said, in awe. "Can I have some?"

I laughed. "Are you suicidal? Because that's what it does to people who aren't demigods. They burn up."

Emmett looked slightly mortified. "Oh."

James turned to me again. "Are you sure you won't eat?"

I nodded. I wasn't really hungry, but if I needed anything later, I could get it myself.

"No, if you need anything later, I'm getting it for you," James said. I made a face at him.

"Pick out what you want to eat, sweetie," Esme said, gesturing towards all the food. James looked slightly overwhelmed at all the food.

Bella laughed. "I told you it would be too much."

Alice responded with some sort of retort, but I didn't listen. I looked around for some sort of chair to sit on, and I found a nice looking couch a couple feet away.

"Can I sit?" I asked Jasper, who was the closest to me.

He nodded. "You tired?"

I shook my head. "My leg hurts. The ambrosia's wearing off."

Carlisle was at my side immediately. "Is it too bad? Is there some sort of painkiller we can give you? Do you need any medicine?"

"Whoa," I said. "I'm fine. Though I'm wondering…"

"Yes?" Carlisle prompted.

"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" I asked sheepishly.

James rolled his eyes from across the room. "I told her that she has to, but she doesn't want to."

"Gee, I wonder why she doesn't want to go to _school_," Emmett said sarcastically. "I mean, it's the best fucking place in the entire _world_."

"Emmett! Language!" Rose and Esme yelled at the same time. Rose swatted the back of his head.

"Ow," he muttered.

James snickered through a mouthful of food. "Don't worry, we hear swearing all the time."

"Yes, you do have to go to school," Carlisle told me. I made a face at him, instinctively.

"Oh, whoops," I said, realizing my mistake. "Sorry." I looked sheepishly at him. Again.

Jasper started chuckling. "Oh, dear. Your faces and Alice's puppy dog face, we'll never get a break here."

"Tell me about it," James said, rolling his eyes again.

"Alright, shut up and eat your food," I told James. He made a face at me, and I just smirked back.

"So do I drive them to school, or what?" Edward asked. "We can't fit eight in one car."

"I can take Emmett, Alice, and Jasper," Rose volunteered. "I haven't driven my car in a while."

"Oh, joy, more beating off boys," Emmett said, half angry. "Your car is way too good-looking." He caught Rosalie's glare. "Just like you, babe."

I smiled to myself. It was fun, watching the way that the Cullen family interacted.

Alice saw me smiling. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head.

"She's observing how you guys interact as a family, and she's comparing it to how she interacts with her own family back at home," James supplied. I glared at him.

Wait. I'd been comparing it with how I interacted with the family back at camp?

"Yes, you were," James said, answering my question.

I glared at him again. "You're sleeping on the floor, buster."

Alice, Rose, Esme, and Bella all laughed.

"Ah, this one knows how to play," Rose said, shaking her head. "I'm so proud of her."

I just smiled at James. He knew I wouldn't make him sleep on the floor. I would get too lonely to do that.

_I wonder if she's a virgin_. Bella's thought appeared in my head.

I looked at her strangely. "Why are you wondering that?" I asked her.

She blushed red. "Oh god, I forgot you could read my mind."

"What did she think?" Edward asked eagerly.

"Nothing," I said, turning a bit red myself. James immediately saw what the question was, and burst out laughing.

"Oh, wow. Yes, she is, Bella," James said, still laughing.

Bella turned even redder. "I'm sorry! I didn't remember!"

"I'm fourteen," I said sternly. "Why would you even think I wasn't?"

"Right," she muttered, ashamed. "Remind me never to think around you guys again."

"Come on, tell me what she thought!" Edward begged.

"No!" Bella yelled. "Absolutely not!"

"Oh, this could get interesting," Emmett said gleefully, with a devilish glint in his eyes. "A person who can finally read Bella's mind? Poor little Eddie's gonna go crazy!"

"Shut it, Emmett," Edward growled. "Please, please, pretty please, tell me what she thought?"

"Nope," James and I said at the same time.

"It's embarrassing," James said in explanation.

I looked around the room, realizing all of a sudden that the rest of the Cullen family was watching me and James of us with wide eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Now we're seeing how _you_ guys interact," Jasper said. He was being surprisingly vocal – from Bella's thoughts, I perceived that he didn't talk at all.

"Is it nice?" James asked candidly, polishing off the last of his food.

"Manners, James," I huffed at him.

"I swear, you two act more like a married couple than boyfriend and girlfriend," Rose said, smiling slightly.

I smiled, and then winced as my shoulder gave another twinge of pain.

Carlisle immediately jumped again. "Are you okay? Do you need any medicine or painkillers? Is there anything we can get? What about that ambrosia—"

"Jeez, calm down," I said, yawning. "It's normal for it to hurt. I guess I just need some sleep."

"Give me a minute," James said, taking his plate to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about that, dear," Esme said. "I can take it."

James shook his head. "If we're going to live here, we can take care of our own duties."

I smiled. It was just like my James to be so nice and gentlemanly. I yawned again.

James was by my side in a flash and lifting me into his arms. "Let's go, sweetie. You're way too sleepy."

"Do I still have to go to school tomorrow?" I mumbled into the soft fabric of his shirt.

"Yes, you do," he said, in a reprimanding tone. I thought I could hear Emmett chuckle somewhere in the background, but I was getting too sleepy to really hear anything.

James set me down on the soft bed, and I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

**A/N: Review, please, review! Can we at least try to get to forty-five reviews by chapter 20? Or maybe even fifty? It would make me so happy if we did! As usual, I'm not updating until I get at least four reviews. Maybe I'll make it five this time. **

**And go review The Abnormal One too. It'll be out later, because the next chapter will be a short one, so I'll give it to you then. But if you haven't reviewed the first chapter of TOA yet, please go review it!**

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**


	19. Blackmailing

**Chapter 20**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed again, guys. Just as a shout out, if you haven't read **_**My Child's Father **_**by **_**scarlettstones**_**, please go check it out! It's fantastic!**

**Remember, review! Review, review, review, pretty please! With an Edward on top! :) Four reviews until I update again, please. And a chapter of TOA is posted now, to complement this. It's because this chapter is so short. So read and review both! **

**Edward's POV**

It was difficult to watch Aria suffer through the pain of her mauled wing.

In a way, she was just like Bella – suffering in silence. She refused to tell anyone but James when she was hurting, and that was only because he could read her mind. She took a dose of ambrosia once a day, and sometimes coupled it with that golden-looking drink. Nectar, I think.

The first day she went back to school was especially hard. If people bumped into her at all, which happened a lot because she's still a freshman, it jostled her shoulder, and in turn, her wing. She was only able to fold half of it against her back, so we opted for baggy sweatshirts to hide the rest.

And on top of all of that, she was miserable from not being able to fly. She wouldn't admit it, but I knew. It made me feel exceptionally sad when I would catch her staring out the window wistfully, looking at the trees like they were her home. I guess, in a way, that they were.

It started to rain harder and harder, true to Forks weather. It became a bit more difficult each day to avoid getting wet with rain, and it took a while for feathers to dry, as Aria patiently explained to me.

I drove both her and James to school each day, along with Bella. We never talked in the car – Bella would just be waking up, and Aria and James would be wrapped up in their own little world. It was a bit cute to watch, honestly. I could tell that she always felt safe with him, and that made me glad.

I had kept up my promise to her brother – I tried my best to not let anything hurt her. Admittedly, the entire family tried, Rosalie the most. Despite all of our efforts, none of us could help her alleviate the pain she felt from not being able to fly.

I realized that this pain was truly a danger to her, one day after school.

I'd finished hunting a bit earlier than the rest of the family and offered to come home before them to keep Bella company. Unfortunately, Bella was swamped with homework for her junior year AP classes, and absolutely refused to let me finish it for her, so I was utterly jobless at the moment.

I'd wandered downstairs, thinking about playing the piano for a bit, when I heard a bit of quiet sniffling coming from a corner of the living room. It stopped abruptly, as if sensing that I was there.

Aria was huddled up in a corner, sitting on the window seat and staring out the window. She was hugging her knees to her chest, looking like a lost puppy, and ultimately making me feel like a horrible substitute older brother. When I entered, she turned her face away from me immediately, but I could see that silent tears were creating little rivers down her cheeks.

"Aria?" I said, moving close to her. "Are you okay?"

_Stupid question, Cullen. Of course she's not fucking okay._

"I'm fine," she said, still turned away. Her voice was surprisingly stable for someone who was crying.

"No, you're not," I said sternly. "Don't try to pretend." I sat across from her on the window seat.

"I'm _fine_, Edward. Go away." She turned her face away from me even more.

I sighed. "Tell me what's wrong, please?"

"Nothing," she said.

_Where's James_? I thought. Oh, wait. He was gone to get some briefing or other from the Roman camp down in Berkeley Hills. He wouldn't be back for another couple hours, he'd said.

"Don't lie," I sighed. "I know something's wrong, why else would you be crying your eyes out? Do you want me to call James?"  
She shook her head. "Don't bother him – he'll only have to go back later."

We sat in silence for a minute, me still trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Of course, other than the fact that she couldn't fly. Was that it?  
"Is it because you miss flying?" I ventured a guess.

A heart-breaking sob wrenched its way out of her mouth. A second too late, she attempted to cover her mouth with her hand, but the tears were already making their way down her face again.

She nodded, looking so broken that I felt broken myself. I reached over and hugged her as best I could without hurting her.

"Tell me about it," I said, trying to sound comforting.

Another sob wracked her thin body. "It's just so…Do you know how long it's been since I couldn't fly?"

I shook my head.

"Eight years. _Eight fucking years_. Four sevenths of my entire life. Not flying…it makes me…vulnerable. And I'm not vulnerable. I'm supposed to be strong; a leader. Not vulnerable and broken. And that's what I am. I'm _broken_. I can't fly, and I can't think straight because of that. Everything about me is _broken_. Damaged, with no sign of healing until I get my wing back.

And then… the pain. The pain of not being able to fly, along with the pain of the wing. It's too much. It brings back memories…memories of times that I don't want to remember. The only person who can remotely understand why I don't want those memories is currently halfway across the globe, and I can't very well up and out of here, as much as I'd like to. But I don't like being broken. It doesn't go well with me, my personality. As much as I'd love to hole up in a corner and cry myself to death, I'd rather be out there helping someone. 'Cuz that's what I do. _Help._ And I can't. Not now, at least."

She finished her rant, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

I was silenced by her feelings, not sure how to respond. I had no idea that she'd been feeling this much pain over the last couple weeks. What type of insensitive brute was I? I was supposed to _protect_ her from all this, not let her succumb to the darkness. I truly was a horrible brother.  
"I'm sorry," Aria said quietly. "I didn't mean to get all worked up. And don't start blaming yourself now, like I know you will."

"No, don't be sorry…" I trailed off, not sure what to say next. "You shouldn't keep it all in like that. It's not good. Have you spoken to James about this?"  
Aria looked at me like I had just told her I had no brain. "He can read my mind, stupid."

"Ah, right," I said. "But don't be sorry, I'm sure it was a relief to get it all off of your chest."

She shrugged. "I guess. Don't go telling Rose that I blew up. She's gonna go all motherly on me."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. Are you and James actually alright with the fact that she wants to treat you like her children?"

She shrugged again. "It's nice to have someone taking care of you. In our world, we take care of ourselves. We don't have parents to do that for us."

Now I felt confused. "But your parents are gods! Don't they have time to take are of you."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "They each have so many children – well, in other gods' cases. In my dad's case and the other two of the Big Three, they're just too busy, or they don't care. And we're taken away from the mortal world pretty fast. So we raise ourselves." Her brow furrowed at the last statement, and she looked slightly disturbed, but she wiped the look off of her face quickly, as if she didn't want me to see it.

"What?" I said. "Why did you look like that for a second?"

Aria hesitated. "Well…it's just that I was raised a bit differently, so that doesn't really apply to me most of the time."

"Tell me," I urged. I wanted to hear her history.

"Long story short, I was with my mother and brother until I turned two, lived with my father under the sea until I turned five, lived with another human family in California until I turned ten, lived at Camp after I found Percy again. Missions in between."

"Hang on, lived under the sea?" I asked. "How did you breathe?"  
"Oh, it's one of the powers that children of Poseidon have," Aria explained. "We can breathe underwater, as well as control water."

"That's pretty interesting," I said, awed. "Can you show me?"  
She shook her head. "Not now. I'm not strong enough to do that. It takes a lot of concentration and energy, and I'm using that up to heal my wing for now."

"So how long have you been able to control your powers?" I asked.

"Since I was, like, three," she said. "I spent two years training underwater with my dad. He separated me and Percy because he thought we were too powerful together."  
"So when did you find him again?"

Aria winced. "It's a pretty long story. I'll save it for another time."

I nodded. "Alright."

She was silent for a second, staring out the window again. The rain was making little tear tracks of its own against the window, and I wondered if she felt like crying again.

"Oh, wait!" she exclaimed suddenly, like she'd forgotten something. "I forgot to ask: I heard Bella thinking something about Emmett and pranking, and I wasn't completely sure what that was about. Care to explain?"

"Sure, but—" I stopped. I could bribe her to get her to tell me what Bella was thinking if I told her about Emmett's pranks, couldn't I? "I'll tell you only if you tell me what you've heard Bella think so far. And if you don't, well then, you'll just have to suffer Emmett's pranks." I smiled to myself, satisfied with the bait.

An evil smile decorated her face. "Oh, buddy, you just tried to blackmail the wrong person."

"Er, what?" I asked, slightly confused. Hadn't I just offered her a good deal?

"Yes, the bribe was pretty good, but man, you've got some learning to do."

"Hey! I thought you couldn't read my mind!" I protested. How had she known exactly what I was thinking?

Aria laughed, a scheming laugh that made me regret my bribe. "No, I can't. Doesn't mean I'm not intuitive. But anyway, let's see what we can do about that bribe."

A thought struck me all of a sudden. "Does James know what Bella thinks?"

Aria's evil smile returned. "Thought you'd try to bribe him, huh? He doesn't know most of it, because my mindreading powers are more accurate and powerful than his. But he knows him."

"So I'll go to him then."

"Nope," Aria said, with satisfaction. "He won't tell."

"We'll see about that," I said confidently.

"Let me put it this way," she said. "Has Rosalie ever gotten really mad at Emmett and forbidden him from touching her?"

I nodded, remembering how desperate he'd been when that had happened.

"Was he willing to do anything for her, by the time a day was up?"

"Before that," I said. "By the time half a day was up."

She nodded. "Exactly. Try that, see what happens."

"Oh, lord, why do women have so much power?" I groaned. I'd never be able to figure out what Bella was thinking.

"Now, back to your pathetic excuse for blackmail," Aria said. "Think of it this way. If I tell you what Bella's thinking, Bella will be mad at you. A very mad Bella means a very mad rest of the family, since she's part of the family. And then she'll forbid you from even _looking_ at her for the rest of eternity."

I felt my mouth go dry. _Oh, no she didn't._ But, yes, she had. That girl was good.

I glared at her. "Damn, you and Emmett would make the perfect prank team."

She snickered. "So I've heard. Have you decided to just tell me what Emmett's pranks are?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Aria grinned evilly again. God, that girl was scaring me. "So, let's extend the deal then. Do you remember the time that Rosalie got mad at you, and you told Bella that if you could, you'd lock her up without Emmett for the rest of eternity?"

I was in shock. Where the fuck had this girl learned her tactics? "…_How_?"  
"Bella's thoughts are most interesting when she sleeps," she said in explanation. "So, how would Rose feel about being told that little bit of information? Perhaps…mad enough to lock you away from Bella for a time?"

"Alright, alright!" I conceded. "You win! What do you want me to tell you?"

Aria nearly fell over laughing. "Didn't I warn you that you'd picked the wrong girl to mess with?"

"Sure," I grumbled. Then I realized that this was the most I'd talked to her since I found her. "Hey, did you realize that this is the most I've talked to you since we met?"

She thought it over. "Huh. Didn't think of that. Odd that we spent this time negotiating blackmail." She grinned evilly again. "Now, tell me what Emmett's planning."

"I don't know if he's planning anything yet," I said. "I haven't heard anything. What Bella was probably thinking is that he's going to prank someone soon. It's kind of his tradition."

Aria nodded, looking serious. "I guess I'll just have to outsmart him." She cracked a grin.

"You're going to be a great addition to the prank team," I muttered. "Like we need anymore of that."

"Hmm, I'll think of that," Aria said.

Just then, James walked in the door, back from his trip early.

"Hey," he said, heading straight for Aria. But he stopped when he saw the evil way her mouth was curled up in a smile.

"What did you _do_?" he asked, looking slightly patronizing.

Aria just smiled, and kept looking at him. I guess they were communicating with their minds.

James doubled over with laughter. "You didn't!"

"Oh yes, she did," I grumbled. Why did a little girl have to get the better of me?

"I should've warned you, man," James said, coming over to hug Aria. "You okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, other than the obvious," she sighed. I assumed James already knew about her breakdown. "Rose and Alice wanted to take me shopping."

"Oh, those two," I said. "Good luck."

Aria stuck her tongue out at me.

I could tell that she and James wanted their privacy now, so I got up.

"It was nice having you blackmail me, Aria," I said. I had to be a gentleman, didn't I?

James buried his face in her hair to keep from cracking up. I glared at him.

"See you guys later," I muttered, still a bit disconcerted from Aria's blackmailing. That girl would be the death of all of us.

**A/N: Tell me what you thought of her blackmailing skills! Leave a review, please! Remember, a new chapter of TOA is up soon. Thanks for getting it up to 51 reviews last chapter! Can we aim for 60 here, pretty please?**


	20. More Hurt

**Chapter 21**

**A/N: Can we get to 65 reviews here? Pretty please with sugar on top? I love all of my reviewers!**

**Aria's POV**

I thought I'd seen it all. Pain, death, mauling, backstabbing, treachery….but all of those had nothing on the pain I was going through, both physically and emotionally.

Of course, I tried to hide it. It was what I'd been doing for the past thirteen years, right? Hiding the pain. James, with his ability to deduce what I was thinking just by the look on my face, knew. But thankfully, he didn't tell anyone else.

And then Edward just _had _to come along and find me in one of my moods, and then get me to rant about why I was so sad. I was so embarrassed about that afterwards, but at least I managed to extract some decent information on Emmett's pranks.

The first day back at school was the hardest. People kept bumping into me, jostling my wing, and it was _painful_.

The days after that got better, until about a week had passed. I was glad that time was flying so quickly. I was settling quite well into a routine that didn't involve flying, and I was pretty used to it. The three of us mind readers were searching mortal heads for any indication of hostile feelings, but nothing turned up just yet. So everything remained normal.

Until one morning.

I'd gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, literally. Somehow, James hadn't been able to stop me from rolling over and nearly crushing my hurt wing in the middle of the night, so I'd ended up sleeping on it.

_Ouch_.

While I was stumbling around, trying to get James and I ready for school, Edward had literally _flown _into my room. Not with wings, no. But running so fast you would think he was running on air.

"Aria!" he yelled, as soon as he burst into the door.

I winced from the noise. "Quit shouting. What?"

"I can read your mind!" The joyful expression on his face was a little too happy for me. I didn't want him to read my mind.

_Motherfucking asshole said _what? I thought. Oh. Wait. He would've heard that.

"I said, I can read your mind," Edward said impatiently, reminding me of a little kid in a candy store. "And, yes, I just heard that."

Ah…what? I was still in shock here.

"I thought that you couldn't read demigod minds?" I said, a bit warily.

Edward nodded, still looking excited. "But it seems that I now can."

I bit my lip, a bit anxious. My thoughts were supposed to be _private_. "Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm still using most of my energy to heal my wing?"  
Edward nodded, looking sure of himself. "I can hear James too."

Yeah, I could too. He'd figured out by now that Edward could read his mind, because he'd been so attuned to my head that he'd just heard everything.

"Are you _sure_?" I asked. "I mean, it might be fluke." _Yes, please, __please__, be a fluke. Like I need another guy being able to read my thoughts when I'm PMSing. And wishing I could kill everyone in sight. Oh, wait, FUCKING HELL, does period blood appeal to vampires?_

"No, it doesn't," Edward said, making a face that looked like he'd smelled something terrible. "I already told you that your blood doesn't appeal to us. For humans, sometimes, it does, but not always."

_With Bella_? I thought silently. Edward flinched, and I immediately felt bad.

"So, you can read our minds now?" James said, reappearing from his shower.

_Ah, why are we all even talking aloud_, I thought. _As long as he can read our minds, of course. _

"Because its easier," Edward said.

_You think if we talk in Greek, he won't understand us?_ James thought.

"I'll learn Greek," Edward threatened.

"Hell, let's just talk aloud," I said, getting slightly annoyed. My wing was starting to throb from the pain.

"Ambrosia," James said immediately, sensing the pain. He broke off a piece from the gigantic clump sitting in a plastic bag on our dresser, and handed it to me. I swallowed it without hesitation, and immediately felt the pain ease up.

_Thanks_, I thought. James nodded.

"So anyway," Edward said. "Carlisle thought this might have been because you've been around us for a longer time now. And he also said to see if you guys could read my mind."  
James immediately shook his head. "I won't be able to even if Aria can. Your mind is different than a demigods, and I can only read their minds and humans, a little bit. Since you're a completely different species, and I'm not a child of the Big Three, I can't."

"What about you?" Edward asked me.

I concentrated as hard as I could, but all I could pick up was James and Bella. "Nothing," I said, slightly disappointed.

James and Edward sighed at the same time.

"Oh, well," Edward said. "Come down and get your breakfast. We're leaving for school soon." He left our room.

"Are you okay?" James asked.

I nodded. I just didn't want someone to be able to read my thoughts – especially someone who wasn't family or close friends. And despite the fact that we were living with them, the Cullens did not qualify.

"I know, I feel the same way," James said. "Looks like you'll just have to block certain thoughts out."

I winced. When demigods PMS, like I was now, we didn't have great control over thoughts. Over anything, more like.

"Don't worry, if it gets too bad, I'll think of something random to keep him occupied," James said with a grin.

The car ride was a bit awkward. The entire time, I kept thinking of my usual things and then: _Oh wait, he can read my mind now. Fuck_. Edward winced every time I swore, so I made it a goal to swear as often as I could. In my mind, swearing was very common. Hell, it was common in all demigods' minds. We had reasons to swear.

When we got out of the car, Edward, turned to face me. "I didn't appreciate all the swearing, you know," he said, looking a bit disturbed.

_Fucking hell, you bastards better get used to this shit_, I responded. Edward winced again, and I grinned.

"You're going to be the death of him," James whispered to me, kissing my cheek softly. "Let's go."

I just wished I would've noticed exactly _who_ was standing at the corner of the parking lot, looking at me with all the hate in the world.

The first half of the morning seemed to pass pretty uneventfully. James and I sat through classes, stealing a few kisses here and there, him always making sure that my wing was fine.

It was on the way to World History that things really began to seem weird.

"Hey, Aria, James," a voice said behind us as we walked in the hallway. Both of us turned around, and I instinctively thought _MONSTER_.

But it wasn't a monster. It was Sean Jacobson, one of the freshman weirdos in this school. I only remembered his name because 1) I have a knack for that sort of thing, and 2) he was the first boy to talk to me on my first day here. He was kind of short for his age, only around my height. He had dark brown hair and dull blue eyes. I don't know how he got that combination. One might say he was cute, but to me, he wasn't. Just plain. Maybe even ugly.

"Hi, Sean," James said, a little warily, slipping his arm around me. "What's up?"

Sean eyed the arm that James had around me. "Nothing much. Just thought I'd talk to you for once. You headed to World History?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Cool." Sean fell into line with us and started walking. "So, how's life? I mean, since no one from our grade has talked to you since you got here."

"Fine," James said. He still had his arm around me, and now it was a little bit possessive. I'd known that Sean had a thing for me, but I thought it had died out. Apparently it hadn't, from the direction of his thoughts.

"So, how come you guys became friends with the Cullens so fast?" he asked.

Oh, so this was why he was talking to us. He had been assigned to figure out what magical secret we had that the other people of our grade didn't.

"We knew them from before we came here," James said, lying through his teeth. Well, maybe a half-lie. I _had_ met Edward before I came here.

"How?" Sean persisted. Oh, he was ever-curious, wasn't he?

I decided to let James take over the lying, and delved a bit deeper into Sean's mind.

_I really hope that Erin is happy that I'm getting information out of them. _That was one of Sean's thoughts. Erin was one of the more popular girls in our grade, and nearly every guy had a thing for her. She was no doubt wondering why we'd become fast friends with the Cullens.

It was no secret that we hung out with them, since we ate lunch together every day.

_I wonder if I have a shot with Aria_. Another thought flew past me, and I had to resist laughing out loud. Did he not see my boyfriend with his arm around me? Blind fool.

I went even deeper, just for the fun of it. Sometimes it was fun to read human minds. I caught little whiff of something odd, but it slipped away too quickly. It felt like something…dangerous.

_Aw, fucking hell. Can't we get a little break from the shitload of danger already?_ I thought.

_Swearing,_ James responded, obviously hearing me. He was still taking to Sean. _Limit it._

I attempted to pursue that little scent of danger, but all I got was something about a plan that was going to take place sometime today. What the hell? The odd part, was, that it felt like this wasn't Sean's own doing. If I didn't know better, I would say that some monster or demon possessed him. But who would do that, and why?

I didn't get a chance to answer my own question, since we reached the World History class at that moment. Sean, James, and I parted ways then, and I could hear Sean wondering why I hadn't talked to him at all. If only he knew I'd been reading his pathetic little human mind.

"That was odd," James whispered to me, his lips brushing my ear.

I jumped. "Dear god, don't scare me," I said.

James hummed. "Hmm, maybe I'll do this instead." He kissed my earlobe, licking it a little.

_Damnit_. "We're in the middle of a classroom, James," I hissed. "Don't make me Mist over the mortals."

"Fine, fine," James conceded. "What did you read from Sean?"

In whispered, I relayed to him what I'd picked up.

James frowned. "That's odd. I guess we'll just have to keep our guard up today."

I nodded, and felt another sharp stab of pain through my wing. I winced.

"You okay, sweetie?" James asked me, looking too concerned.

I kissed him, because he was just that sweet. "I'm fine."

We didn't talk much after that, because class started just then. I usually paid attention in class, but today, my mind was wandering.

First of all, Edward could now read my mind. I hated that. I hated that someone outside my own species could read my mind. Even people who were a part of my species sometimes couldn't read my mind, if they were children of the more minor gods. Their powers weren't as strong as the Big Three's children.

And then, my wing. It had been hurting a bit more than usual today, though I took ambrosia early in the morning. I wondered if it was some sort of sign, or something. Like, something dangerous was about to happen. That wouldn't be too far off, considering the fact that Sean's mind had said something like that.

I'd actually bee quite surprised that nothing else had attacked us for a couple weeks. Back at home, monster attacks were all too common. I wasn't used to going without one for more than a week.

Hopefully I hadn't just jinxed it, and there wouldn't be a fight until we actually found the monster.

And that brought me back to thoughts of the original reason why we were here – the mission to find that monster. Apparently, Gaea had been getting a bit angrier than usual back at camp, and we needed to find a way to stop, or at least, slow her down, before we waged war. Because we sure as hell weren't ready.

The Gods were just about as good at fighting as we were, which meant that we'd make a pretty good team against any sort of monster. The couple times that Percy had called me, I'd gotten updates on how things were at camp. Everyone was training very hard for the war, including those who couldn't even fight. Well, at least they were learning, right?

Rachel, our Oracle, had been spewing mini-prophecies left, right, and center, due to the fact that Octavian had introduced her to his stuffed animals. It was quite an odd alliance that they had.

The Roman camp had also been training, as Percy had told me. Percy and Jason were both collaborating on battle plans, making sure that each army knew how to ally and fight with the other. It was quite interesting, actually. And in the end, only our side would be victorious.

'Cause I really hoped we would win. It would be kind of sad to see the destruction of the world.

And now, where did the Vampires fit into this? Would the vegetarian vampires side with us? What about the normal vampires? If our blood didn't appeal to them, maybe we would be safe. But if Rachel, who was human, was going to be around, we might be in a little danger.

Oh, well. I'd talk to Carlisle about the logistics of that later.

"Thinking a lot, were we?" James asked me as we fought the rush of students on our way to the next class.

"Like you didn't hear most of it," I said.

He laughed and kissed me on the cheek. "Right, I did. How's the wing?"  
I grimaced at the reminder. "Getting through it. I may take some nectar at lunch."

The rest of the morning flew by fairly quickly, but I couldn't help worrying over what Sean's mind had presented. I found myself looking at innocent humans a bit more worriedly, wondering if they'd suddenly turned into monsters.

"Calm down, Aria," James whispered to me, grabbing a tray for our lunch.

"Can't," I muttered back. It was true. I was now utterly incapable of calming down. Damnit.

"What's wrong with _her_?" Edward asked as we sat down, jerking his head at me.

James shrugged, but in his mind, he was replaying the events of the morning.

Edward obviously saw it. "Ah…that looks bad."

_No shit, Sherlock_, I thought, glaring at Edward.

He winced again. "Jesus, Aria."

"Are you swearing?" Emmett asked me, grinning. "'Cause that always gets little Eddie boy up in a tizzy."

"Yes, Emmett, she seems to be swearing," Rose said. "How's the shoulder?" she asked me. It was our code for my wing, since she couldn't really ask how my wing was doing in a crowded cafeteria.

"Fine," I said. I didn't like all the attention focused on my healing. I preferred healing in private, which wasn't an option, since Carlisle insisted on checking the progress at least every night. My wing was growing back, that was for sure.

"So, I heard that you managed to out-blackmail Edward," Bella said, smiling at me.

Jasper immediately looked up in surprise. "She did _what_? You actually managed to deceive him?"

"Good, since he cheats all the time," Rose said scathingly. "I hate that he can read our minds."

"Yeah, well now he can read ours too," James admitted.

Alice's eyes got as round as dinner plates. "_Really_?! Does this mean that I may be able to see while they're around us?"

"Don't get your hopes up," I said. "I think its just because my wing is hurt and my defenses are down. It may be temporary."

"But then I wouldn't be able to read James's mind, right?" Edward argued.

"Yeah, but since I usually have a protective shield around both of us by nature, it might just be because I'm weaker now," I shot back.

Bella looked curious. "So, because your shoulder is hurt, your protective shield that's usually around both of you isn't functioning, and thus Edward can read both of your minds?"

I nodded. "Right."

"So what if James puts that protective shield back up? What's it made out of anyway?" Bella asked.

"It's made out of the Mist," James said. We'd already explained to them what the Mist was. "And even if I did it, it wouldn't be as strong. You know why."

"Can we try it now?" Edward asked me. "I mean, can you put up your shield now, and can we see if I can read your mind or not?"

I shook my head. "I'm not risking getting hurt again. The healing process might be delayed if I just do something simple."

"So then why'd it take so long for your mind to open up to him?" Jasper asked me.

"Yeah," Emmett agreed. "If your shield had disappeared the moment you got hurt, why couldn't he read your mind before now?"  
"That's just it," I said. "It didn't disappear the moment that I got hurt. My guess is that it lingered, since I've been putting it up for, like, twelve years now. So it would've taken time to disappear."

"That makes so much more sense," Alice whispered. "Yup, I'm starting to see now."

She was silent, with a glazed look in her eyes. I shot Edward a questioning look.

"Yup...mhm…she's seeing stuff," Edward said, quite obviously reading Alice's mind.

I sighed. "I wish I could read their minds at times like this."

"I know, right," James said.

"Get used to it," Rose told us. "It's so annoying when those two decide to have private conversations and you don't even know what's going on."

I smirked. "At least I can do that with someone whenever the hell I feel like."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Ah, let the competition of silent conversations begin."

James nudged me and gestured in the direction of a couple kids from our grade. "Look, they really are curious."

Sure enough, the girl named Erin, a couple others, and Sean, were all staring in this direction.

"Let them look," I murmured. "Let's at least give them something to look at." I pulled James to me and kissed him with everything I had. I heard a few cheers and whoops, but whatever. Let them stare.

I tore myself away from James, because if we kept at this much longer, we would soon be dry humping in the middle of the cafeteria. Chiron would kill both of us, and then our parents would dig us up and kill us again.

James grinned. "If that's what you're going to do every time people are staring, I'll start paying them to stare."

"That was…" Rosalie couldn't finish her sentence.

"Awesome!" Emmett finished, reaching over the table for a high five. "If I didn't know for sure that we weren't related, I would assume that you were my long-lost sister!"

I smiled. It was nice to surprise people.

Even Alice had jerked out of her reverie. "Huh, I didn't see that coming," she huffed.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision," I told her. "Of course you didn't."

Bella started giggling madly.

"What?" James asked her.

"Someone's staring again," she giggled.

"Oh no you don't," Rosalie said. She put a hand on James's chest, stopping him from leaning forward. "Don't start making out again in the middle of the cafeteria."

"Don't pretend you don't want to, Rosie," Emmett crooned.

"Shut it, Emmett."

While they were bickering, I felt another twinge of pain in my wing, a bit more than last time. I winced.

"I'm going to go take more ambrosia," I told James. I had to take it in the bathroom, because the students would start to get suspicious if I randomly pulled out a baggie of weird looking food. And as we all already knew, people were no doubt watching us.

He nodded and squeezed my hand briefly. _Let me know if you need anything_.

I headed out of the cafeteria, feeling most pairs of eyes on me. It was a bit disconcerting to realize that you were on the thoughts of most people in the grade, be it female or male.

The closest bathroom was a good walk away from the cafeteria. Screw those administrators who decided that children did not need to use the bathroom right after lunch.

I was walking along the silent hallways when I heard a voice from behind me.

"Ah, there you are."

I whirled around and found myself face to face with Sean Jacobson, my heart pounding.

See, we demigods have certain phrases that we don't particularly like. For example, "we've been waiting for you" or "so nice to see you again" or "there you are" or "Hello, Ariadne Lyriana Jackson." Those mean that monsters are coming. So it wasn't any surprise that my adrenaline levels were spiking right around now.

But Sean couldn't be a monster. I'd've already sensed it. Right?

"Hi, Sean," I said warily, backing away a little bit.

"I was waiting for you, Aria," he said, taking a step towards me for every step I took back. I had a brief mental image of a cat stalking a mouse, but I shook it from my head.

"Why?" I asked, ever-so-stupid. If I hadn't been focusing so much on the pain in my shoulder, I would have noticed the feral gleam in his eyes, signifying that something was wrong – Sean was not acting like this of his own accord.

"Come to me, Aria," Sean commanded, his voice ringing out eerily in the hall. I shivered. His voice resembled the voice of Kronos – the only time I'd ever heard the Titan Lord's voice.

I backed away further. "Sean, I'm warning you, get away from me," I said, my hand automatically reaching for my sword, though I knew that Celestial Bronze couldn't hurt mortals.

"No, that won't work," Sean said, shaking his head. "Leave James behind." Before I could ponder his strange words, or at least get a glimpse into his mind, Sean had pressed me up against the wall, slamming my injured shoulder blade roughly against the tile.

The pain exploded so badly in my shoulder that I wasn't even aware of the fact that his mouth was on mine.

I was struggling futilely, desperate to wrench my shoulder away from the wall. I was sure that my wing was broken again, the little shards of bone piercing my back. Or were those the shards of pain? I wasn't sure at this point – my vision was starting to tinge red.

With the last bit of energy I had, I brought my knee up and kicked Sean where it hurts the most. I heard him howl in pain briefly, but it was a personification of my own pain – of the broken, bleeding, feathery mass that was now throbbing against my body.

_James, James,_ my subconscious screamed, praying that he would somehow hear me. I knew his powers didn't extend very far.

Sean growled, the animalistic glint back in his eye. He lunged at me, and I rolled away, whimpering when my injured shoulder blade hit the floor again. I jumped up as fast as I could and kicked out blindly, the red haze threatening to overpower my vision. I felt my foot connect with human tissue, and I knew my kick had found its target.

My senses started to come back to me, and I felt the presence of another supernatural creature near me.

_Oh dear freaking lord, don't let it be the monster_, I prayed.

Sean, somehow, managed to grab my arm, but I twisted away quickly. His leg was halfway extended out in a kick, and I realized what he was doing. It was a common and simple maneuver, designed to trap the opponent against a surface. Unluckily for Sean, I'd been training against this type of crap for years.

Vaulting straight over his arm, I could sense the surprise in his mood as he realized I was no longer where he wanted me to be.

I heard pounding footsteps, and recognized the frequency of James's mind.

_Thank the Gods._

The foolish human that he was, Sean attempted to attack again, but I blocked him with ease. It was quite simple actually, though I wasn't really able to see through the tears. The pain in my wing was starting to cloud all thought, and I felt a bit dizzy.

Just before James turned the corner, I saw a figure slip into the teachers room – someone familiar, I thought. But all I saw was a silhouette.

I felt strong arms lift me up, and I knew James had reached me. I let out a small cry when his arm brushed against my wing.

"Oh, fuck, her wing got hurt again," James swore.

I heard two more pairs of footsteps. _Edward and Emmett_, judging by the pattern of footsteps.

"Aria?" James whispered to me. "Can you hear me?"  
I nodded. "Sean…he…"

"I know," James said.

I shook my head. "No, no," I said, frustrated, quite sure that he didn't know. "He seemed possessed…and I thought something was going to attack…that he was just a distraction…"

"Shh," he whispered comfortingly. "We're getting out of here. Carlisle's coming."

"Call Percy," I muttered. "Tell him not to come. Tell him that I'm safe."

"I will, love," James said soothingly. "We're going home now."

I shook my head again. "Home is in New York."

James chuckled. "To our temporary home then," he said.

I sighed, letting my eyes drift shut. "Love you," I managed, before slipping into the darkness.

_Stupid freaking wing and its tendency to get hurt. _

**A/N: Please review! This was the longest chapter I've written so far :) Review! Reviewers get a little outtake in the monster's POV! To BubblesRule: Yes, I think I am a good blackmailer :P I've gotten several things through that! :) **


	21. Roman Introductions

**Chapter 22**

**A/N: Hey! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Can we get up to 75 reviews here, please? Thanks! :)**

**Edward's POV**

I nearly had a heart attack when James leapt out of his chair and sprinted for the cafeteria door. And that's saying something, since my heart doesn't function.

"Edward, Emmett, come with me," he yelled, at a high enough frequency that humans couldn't hear.

"Aria?" Emmett yelled as a question. I didn't need James's confirming nod, because, honestly, who else would he drop everything for other than her?

It didn't take too long to find her. In fact, no more than four seconds. We ran into view just as she was tumbling over an outstretched leg, getting ready to kick her.

I felt the rage surge through my dead veins, because _nobody_ was allowed to attack her.

James rushed to her side immediately and picked her up, and then I got a good view of who was attacking her.

One of the moronic freshman, Sean whatever-his-name-was, had decided to get it into his head to attack her. For god knows what reason.

I heard a little whimpered cry of pain from Aria, and then James said, "Oh fuck, her wing got hurt again."

Emmett and I turned to Sean, who was bracing himself against the wall and shaking his head like he was underwater.

"Who the fuck are you?" Emmett snarled.

"Huh?" Sean said.

"Sean, Sean Jacobson," I muttered to him. Aloud, I said, "What are you doing here? Why'd you attack her?"

"I attacked her?" Sean asked, looking completely clueless.

"Don't play dumb," I growled angrily. "Exactly what the fuck were you planning?"

_Huh, Eddie boy is swearing. _Emmett's unwelcome thought filtered through the angry haze, and I shot him an odd look.

"I don't remember anything," Sean said, shaking his head.

Emmett lunged forward and had the boy's throat in his fist within a millisecond.

_What did I do? Why do I feel so groggy? Why is Aria looking dead? What happened? Why don't I remember anything?_

This time, it was Sean's thoughts that pervaded my mind.

"Wait, Emmett," I said. "I think he's telling the truth. He doesn't remember anything."

"Yeah, I don't," Sean said. "Why?"

"…_possessed…_" the word floated to me from James and Aria's conversation.

Holy *****_ (insert expletive of choice there). What if Sean was possessed?_

"I'm taking her home," James told me quietly. I nodded, still processing the new information.

How did being possessed work? I tried desperately to remember what Carlisle had told me about possession by demons.

"How much do you remember?" I asked, remembering that memory slipped away with possession.

"Nothing before yesterday afternoon," Sean said. "The last thing I remember is some teacher talking to me, and past that, nothing."

"Damnit," Emmett muttered. "Well, listen up. You attacked our little sis— friend, and that isn't acceptable."  
I knew Emmett had nearly slipped up and called Aria our sister, which, for all purposes, she was, but the humans couldn't know that. Everyone believed that they were still living with the Newtons.

"Dude, I don't remember attacking anyone," Sean repeated. "I must've blacked out or something…oh god, is she okay?"  
I snorted. Aria was probably far from okay. From what her thoughts had indicated, her bad shoulder was slammed up against the wall when Sean…

"Holy shit, you KISSED HER?!" I yelled.

"He did _what_?" Emmett roared a second later.

"I did _what_?" Sean squeaked, right on beat. "Oh fuck, James is going to _kill_ me!"

"Not if I don't kill you first!" Emmett growled.

"Calm, Emmett," I commanded, my own thoughts still racing. "He clearly doesn't remember anything." Looking at Sean, I said, "You're coming with us. You're going to explain this to Aria."

Sean gaped at me. "I'm going to see where you _live_?"  
Emmett rolled his eyes at me. "Dude, not a good idea."

"They'll deal," I said firmly. "We're going to figure out this mess."

"What mess?" Sean asked.

"Nothing." I brushed off the question.

"They went home," Emmett said. "At least, that's what James said they'd do. After Aria pointed out that their home was in New York."

"And you heard all this…when?"  
Emmett smirked. "I listen better than you, bro. Should we get the others to come home with us?"

"I'm going to your _house_?" Sean said incredulously. We both ignored him.

"Alice already saw, so yeah," I said, as we started hauling Sean to our car. I'd heard Alice have a vision that she had to take everyone home. "I'd like it better if they didn't cut class."

"I'm actually going to the infamous _Cullen_ house?" Sean rambled.

"Dude, if you don't stop saying that, I'm going to ram you into the wall," Emmett grumbled.

"I'll help," I added. Gods, that kid was annoying. Hang on, when did I start saying 'gods'? Oh dear, being around Aria and James was starting to influence me.

Emmett shoved Sean into the backseat of my Volvo, and I got into the driver's seat.

"The _Cullen_ house," Sean whispered to himself, probably thinking that we weren't going to hear.

"Godammnit," Emmett swore. "That kid is testing my self control."

Due to my driving at the speeds of a demon, we were home within the next couple minutes.

The moment we reached the doorway, Esme ran into sight.

"She's fine," our mother said. Then she paused when she saw Sean. "Who's this?"

"The human who attacked Aria," I said, too fast for Sean to make out what I was saying. I doubt he would've heard me anyway, since he was busy examining every inch of the living room.

"The _Cullen_ house," he whispered to himself again. I rolled my eyes.

"Where is she?" Emmett asked. "This little dickwad has some explaining to do."

"Language, Emmett!" Esme's reprimanding cry was lost in the roar of Alice's Porsche pulling up into the driveway.

The rest of my family appeared, with Alice dragging Bella behind her.

"Is she okay?" Rosalie demanded.

"She's fine," Esme reassured her. "But this…_human_ has some explaining to do."

"I knew it," Alice muttered.

"Why are you all here?"

I turned around when I heard Aria's voice.

"Are you okay?" Rose and Jasper asked at the same time.

"Fine," Aria said. "What's _he_ doing here?" She gestured to Sean, who was now running his hands over the furniture. "And why is he fondling the sofa?"  
Emmett rolled his eyes. "The kid's got problems."

Sean looked up when he realized we were talking. "Oh, hi," he said to Aria, shamefacedly. "Are you…um…alright?"

James walked into the room, just behind Carlisle.

"She's fine, no thanks to you," James said scathingly. "And was the kiss _really_ necessary?"

"You _kissed her_?!" Rose screeched.

Sean turned a very delicate shade of white. "Fuck," he muttered to himself. To the rest of the room, he said, "Really, I don't remember anything. Like, _anything_."

Aria nodded. "I figured." _I know he was possessed_, she thought, for the benefit of both James and me.

"Why don't you sit down," Esme said, not so kindly. "And we can figure this all out."

As Sean reverently lowered himself onto one of the sofas like it was made of glass, I shot Aria a look, trying to ask her silently if she was _really _okay.

She rolled her eyes at me. _I'm fine,_ she thought. _My wing just got jarred a bit, but I took some ambrosia. Now quit worrying_.

James slid his arm around her protectively, and I could tell he was worried about Sean being in such close proximity to Aria. Though if he even got close to her, seven furious vampires would be blocking him.

"So, Sean," Aria said. "Why don't we—"

"I'm really sorry," he interrupted. "I honestly don't—"

Aria held up a hand, indicating for him to stop. "I get it. What was the last thing you remember doing before this afternoon?"

Sean furrowed his brow in concentration. "Um…I think…yesterday afternoon…I talked to some teacher."

"Nothing before that?" James asked. "Not even talking to us this morning?"

"I talked to you this morning?" Sean asked, looking confused.

"Never mind," Aria said hurriedly. "So, what did that teacher say to you?"

"Um…" Sean trailed off, trying to dredge up the details from his memory. "I think…the teacher said something about a dress code violation…and they gave me a slip that has to get signed by my parents."

Both Aria and James were looking through their own memories to see what Sean was wearing yesterday. Aria was slightly more successful at this, remembering nearly exact details, since her memory was closer to photographic than James's was.

Once James had a clear picture of Sean's attire the day before, Aria began running a list of the dress code rules through her head. Apparently the centaur Chiron had made her memorize the handbook.

It was fascinating, to witness how they worked together to compile the information needed. Within no more than five seconds, both of them had reached the conclusion that the supposed 'dress code violation' was false.

"But there really was nothing wrong with your clothes, was there?" Aria suggested softly. Sean hadn't even noticed the five second silence.

He shook his head. "I don't remember anything wrong with it. 'Cause my mom always checks in the morning, and she didn't say anything yesterday morning."

Aria and James exchanged a knowing look. I knew they had come to the same conclusion: that either this teacher was a helper of the monster, like the Lion, or he was the monster itself.

"Which teacher was it?" James asked.

Sean scrunched up his face in concentration, looking like one of those ugly little dogs. "Ugh…hang on…I know I remember it…It was one of those junior teachers…Mr. Banner, I think?" His eyes went wide, like he wasn't supposed to say that.

He could've very well thrown a knife straight at me.

_ Mr. Banner? The Biology teacher? Like, the teacher that Bella and I have for class THIS YEAR?! _

My thoughts have no intention of calming down anytime soon.

I quickly skim Sean's mind again, looking for confirmation that it's Mr. Banner – and sure enough, it is.

My mind starts going into overdrive, worrying that Bella will be harmed somehow, if we stay in his class any longer.

Jasper, of course, getting worried, sent some waves of calm over to me, but they just roll off.

"Thanks, Sean," Aria said, looking at me worriedly. "You can go now."

"I'll drive him back to school," Carlisle offered.

He and Sean walk towards the door, but Sean stopped when he was halfway there.

"Look, I really am sorry," Sean admitted. He turned to James. "I didn't mean to kiss her, but I know you're probably going to kill me anyway."

"I won't," James said.

"I don't know what happened, but I can assure you, it won't happen again," Sean said.

"Damn right," Emmett muttered, too low for Sean to hear.

"Bye," Aria said, as they exited out the door.

A little silence fell over the living room, with all of our attention focused on Aria and James.

They seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation with each other, but even I can't make out what it is at this point. Both of their minds are too full of thoughts for me to discern any communication.

After about three more seconds, James pulled a cellphone out of his jeans pocket and tossed it to Aria.

Without hesitation, she dialed a number that she obviously knew by heart.

"Percy, it's me," she said, as soon as someone picked up the phone. Before I could discern a reply from the other end, she spoke something in another language – Greek, I think.

Percy immediately responded in Greek, and they continue the conversation this way, both of them speaking indefinably fast and in an ancient language which none of the rest of us can understand. I can't even read her mind, since it's still such a jumble of things. I now understand what the mind of an ADHD child looks like. There were several different compartments of her thoughts, each working on a different aspect. I couldn't concentrate on more than one at a time.

"She's speaking in Greek," I said, since Emmett had a confused look on his face.

Almost immediately after I said that, Aria hung up the phone. Instead of giving it back to James, she hit the dial pad numerous times again, calling someone else.

For the second call, Aria didn't use English at all. Instead, she spoke in a mix of two different languages – Greek and Latin, I thought.

James was listening on the side, apparently understanding everything. Every once in a while, he whispered something into her ear, which Aria then relayed to the speaker on the other end of the phone.

The second call lasted longer than the first. After a little more than five minutes, Aria hung up and tossed the phone back to James.

"Berkeley," Aria said. James nodded, like that one word held an entire conversation. For them, it probably did.

"Hey, you know, we're still here," Emmett reminded her. "Could we at least get an explanation?"

James turned towards me. "I thought you'd be reading her mind as she spoke," he said. "Didn't you?"

I shook my head. "ADHD brains are too complicated to follow."

Aria smirked. "Hah. Well, anyways, we have to go to the Roman Camp. In California. Is there any way you guys could arrange for us to be excused from school and clear it with the Newtons or whatever—"

"Hang on, we're not going with you?" Alice asked.

Aria just looked at her.

"You want to come?" James asked.

"Hell yeah!" Emmett exclaimed. "It would be so much fun!"

Bella, from her spot next to me, silently shook her head. She locked eyes with Aria, clearly conveying her thoughts.

Aria nodded. "I know, I know."

"What?" I asked, eager to hear Bella's thoughts.

"Nothing," both Aria and Bella said at the same time. I sighed in frustration.

"So, can we come with you or not?" Rose asked, sounding impatient for an answer.

This time, Aria sighed in frustration. "I guess," she said tentatively. "I mean, we'd have to clear it with both Jason and Percy."

"And Jason is…" Jasper trailed off, waiting expectantly for an answer.

"One of the leaders of the Roman Camp," Bella filled in.

The room fell silent as we all stared at her.

"How did you know that?" Alice asked.

Bella blushed, her face turning that beautiful shade of red. "Well…Aria told me."

Now we all looked at Aria, who put her hands in front of her in a defensive motion.

"I was just talking to her about my life! Can you guys drop it?"

"Sure," Esme said. "So, will your family be okay with us coming?"

"I guess," James said. "I mean, they have to be. You're helping us." Aria nodded in agreement.

"So, why do you have to go there again?" Rosalie asked.

"This is a huge piece of information," Aria said. "Finding out who the teacher is. It doesn't matter if he's the monster or just the monster's helper. Either way, we need to report to someone, and we need to get out of here."

"Why do you need to get out of here?" Jasper questioned.

"He probably already figured out who we are," James answered. "If we come back with more reinforcements, that would help. And also, Aria's literally in no shape to fight right now. She needs time to heal."

Aria nodded in agreement with all of this.

"When are you planning on leaving?" Bella asked.

"Right now, if possible," Aria said. "Or, as soon as Carlisle comes back."

"You don't need to pack?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I have spare clothes there. In fact, I think we can get some people to lend you clothes too."

"What?" Alice exclaimed. "I don't want to wear someone else's clothes!"  
"Ali, calm down," Bella said. "Now is _really_ not the time."

"We just need to wait for Carlisle to come back, and then we can go," Esme said.

As if on cue, Carlisle walked in the door.

"Fill him in," Aria commanded me. "We need to arrange our transportation."

She and James ran outside into the afternoon, leaving the rest of my family to fill my father in on the fact that we were about to witness the existence of another, albeit stranger, species.

_Oh, life just gets more normal every day, doesn't it_?

**A/N: Review, pretty please! If you ask for it, in your review, I'll send something in Sean's POV. Maybe he knows more that it seems… and it's going to be pretty important to the plotline, but I don't want to post it. So if you want to understand my story, ask for it! Bye :) **


	22. Crazy Augurs

**Chapter 23**

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys. They really make my day! Don't forget to review here!**

**Aria's POV**

So, now the vampires wanted to come to camp? Oh, dear, were we in for it. Both Percy and Jason had absorbed the news about Mr. Banner pretty fast, how he was either the monster's helper or the monster himself. Both of them had also mentioned finding new leads, in order to help us understand why Gaea wanted to kill us and how she was going to go about it.

Percy agreed to meeting up at the Roman Camp, and to bring Annabeth, Piper, and Leo, with him. Jason and Reyna had also agreed, so we were going to go there as soon as possible.

And then the wrench in the plan. The vampires weren't supposed to come with us, though I couldn't explain their want to. I mean, didn't they already hear all about the Roman camp? Why would they want to come?

But it wasn't really up to us to deny them, so James and I had agreed to let them come with us and see what happened. We'd already sent word ahead to Jason to let him know that we had a few extra visitors, but we hadn't heard back yet.

Through my thoughts, Percy already knew that we were going to have visitors, but he was okay with that, since he'd seen the Cullens before and all.

I was honestly surprised that Mr. Banner was the teacher who possessed Sean. It didn't seem to add up, somehow, but I was willing to accept the explanation for what it was. Really, what other option did we have now?

"Let's get Mrs. O'Leary," James suggested, as we walked outside to arrange transportation to Camp Jupiter. "She'd be the fastest way to camp."

"Yeah, and maybe then she can go back for Percy," I said. "Can you whistle for her?"

James put two fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill, piercing, taxicab whistle. A second later, a huge black shape bounded out of the shadows, and immediately knocked me over.

"Ow! Yes, hey, girl. I missed you too. Would you _please_ get off of me now?" I pleaded with Mrs. O'Leary, who was absolutely refusing to stop licking my face.

James was doubled over with laughter.

"You're not being much of a help!" I told him.

"Sorry…" he burst into laughter again. "Come here, girl." And Mrs. O'Leary promptly picked him up, deposited him next to me, and began to circle us both at the same time, alternatively licking either one of us.

Now we were both doubled over with laughter.

"We missed you," I said, scratching her behind the ears, just like she liked it.

"Now can we get out of her circle?" James whined.

Mrs. O'Leary gave us both one, huge, slobbering lick, before collapsing on the grass.

"Finally," I said. I turned to James. "Go get them."

As it turned out, there was no need to get the Cullens. They were already standing on the porch, having witnessed the entire scene of Mrs. O'Leary's greeting.

"We came out when we heard the scream," Bella confessed. "Though, it seems, that it was only a hellhound."

Only James and I caught the sarcastic undertone in her voice. Bella knew a lot about Greek myths, having perused them avidly as a younger child. She also was very familiar with the different types of monsters, which lead to her understanding our world a bit better than anyone else.

"Ladies and gentleman," James started. "We would like to present the one and only friendly hellhound in the entire universe – Mrs. O'Leary."

As if taking a bow, the huge hellhound got up, and flopped down again in a different position.

"Who's she married to?" Emmett asked, only thinking of that aspect of things. Of course.

"I don't know," I said, looking at James. Then a thought struck me. Would the Romans let Bella in the camp? Since she was human?

James heard the thought at the same time it struck me.

"I think so," he said. "They've made exceptions in the past. Or Edward can carry her."

"Carry who?" Edward asked. He apparently hadn't heard my thought.

"Bella," I said. "Since she's human and all, and we don't usually let humans in the camp."

"Oh," Bella whispered, looking worried.

"Don't worry," James said. "They'll let you in."

"Hey, Aria?" Emmett called. "I think your dog likes me." I turned around to see Mrs. O'Leary licking Emmett's face repeatedly, with him just standing there.

"Ah, she does," I said, smiling wickedly. "Get off him, girl. Now go smell the others."

Mrs. O'Leary bounded to me.

"She already smelt them," James reminded me. "When she last came."

"Oh," I said. "So we're good then. Shall we go?"

"I still think I should pack clothes," Alice complained.

"Not now, Alice," Rose hissed. She gave Mrs. O'Leary a withering look. "Especially since the dog might drop them."

I rolled my eyes, knowing that there was no convincing Rosalie of the fact that Mrs. O'Leary wouldn't drop anyone.

"Alright, Everyone on," I said. The vampires began climbing onto our huge black transportation.

"Alright, girl, let's go," I said, clutching the hair along her neck. A second later, we were thrown into the black shadows, the wind speeding by us.

I thought I heard Bella scream somewhere behind me, but the sound was lost in the rushing of air.

A couple seconds later, we were outside the Caldecott Tunnel.

"Whoa," Emmett said, right before slipping off. "That was…"

"Terrifying," Alice said.

"Awesome!" Jasper countered.

I laughed. "Let's go, guys. We've got some demigods to meet."

"Bye, girl," James whispered to Mrs. O'Leary. She bounded off into the woods, probably to eat or something. Or sleep. She needed it.

I looked at the river in front of me, knowing that Bella would probably not be able to cross it.

_We can go get Jason,_ James thought, standing next to me. _He can do something about that_.

_We can try it first,_ I responded. _It wouldn't hurt_.

"Alright!" I said aloud. "Edward, you're going to need to carry Bella across the water. No part of her can come into contact with the water."

Edward nodded, looking grim.

_Can't you just control the water? _James asked me.

I shook my head. _It's Roman. I don't think I'll be able to, in my weakened condition_.

Looking at the river again, I decided to jump across, not wade. I didn't want my wing getting wet. I backed up a couple steps and launched myself over the river. I somersaulted as I went, purely for the fun of it. James followed a couple seconds later.

"Well, come on," he said to the Cullens. They were standing on the opposite side, looking slightly wary.

_Don't tell me you're backing out _now_, _I thought sarcastically to Edward.

He shook his head, pulled Bella into his arms, and jumped across the river. Alice and Jasper followed, holding hands, then Rosalie and Emmett, and then Carlisle and Esme.

All the Cullens looked slightly apprehensive. Not that I blamed them, of course. I would be frightened if I was about to meet a bunch of killing machines too. I mean, all of us at the same time could probably kill the entire Cullen clan, minus Bella.

"Shut it, Aria," Edward said. "I don't need to hear that."

"Right," I said, entering the tunnel. I was expecting some sort of guard to meet us before this, and I was soon proven right.

"Aria!" a figure in bronze combat armor came hurtling towards me, and I braced myself for the hug that nearly crushed me.

"Can't—breathe—" I choked.

"Oh, sorry," the figure said, pulling away. I saw it was Hazel, her curly brown hair peeking out from under her helmet. "Jason and Reyna are waiting," she informed me.

"Hi, Hazel," James said. "Long time no see."

Hazel also tackled him with a hug. "We missed you!" When she broke away from James, she looked curiously at the Cullens.

"Oh, right, introductions," I said.

"No need," Hazel said. "We already know – the legends, remember?" _Though I must say, the legends did _not_ include how amazingly hot they all are!_

I winced when that thought reached me, and I prayed to the gods that Edward did not hear that. The look on his face said he did, however.

_Hazel,_ I thought towards her. _Edward can read minds_.

There was a moment of awkward mind silence, and then Hazel screamed: _OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOW THE FUCK COULD I FORGET THAT GODDAMNIT – wait, is that a human?_

"Yeah, that's Bella, Edward's girlfriend," James explained aloud.

"Fiancé," Edward corrected lovingly.

Hazel raised her eyebrows at me, but I shook my head. _Later_.

"Are Percy and Annabeth here yet?" James asked.

Hazel shook her head. "Jason wants to see you both, by the way. So hurry up."

"Where's Frank? Is Nico here? Does Reyna also want to see us?" I peppered Hazel with questions.

"Armory, no, and yes, she's waiting with Jason," Hazel answered.

I looked behind me to see the vampires standing stock still. "Come on," I said. "The invitation still stands, you know?"

So the Cullens followed dubiously behind Hazel through the Caldecott tunnel.

"So do the Romans have legends about vampires?" Carlisle finally broke the silence, though James and I had been having a mental conversation about how much they would all freak out when they met the army.

"Yes, we do," Hazel said, her voice unusually calm. "Coincidentally, I was wondering how the hu—Bella, got across the river."

"I carried her," Edward supplied. "She didn't even touch the water."

Hazel looked at me. "Your doing?"

"Yup," I admitted, nodding. I'd made sure that not even the mist from the water could reach Bella.

"So how is everyone?" James asked.

"Relatively fine," Hazel said, shrugging. "We've had a couple skirmishes here and there, a monster got in and nearly burned down one of the barracks, but not much other than that. Oh, and a couple injuries. Nico's been visiting on and off too. He mentioned that you got hurt, Aria."

"Yeah, I did," I said. "Nemean Lion bit off half my wing."

Hazel gasped. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged. "Still healing. That's part of why we're here – we didn't want to be around the monster too much."

"Makes sense. You'll have to explain the entire story to Jason and Reyna. And probably again to Percy when he comes."

"I know." I nodded. "Though Percy could probably tell through my mind."

The reason why I had manually explain the situation to Jason and Reyna was that the mind reading between Greeks and Romans wasn't that strong, except between children of the Big Three. It was only if a strong thought was directed intentionally at someone that it had a chance of being heard.

"We're here," Hazel said, stopping at the end of the tunnel.

"So where do we go?" Alice piped up.

"You go with them," Hazel informed them, pointing at me and James. "Jason and Reyna want to meet you too."

_I've got to go train_, Hazel thought at me. _Bye_. She ran off towards the armory, leaving us and the Cullens standing on the grass.

"Oh, look who it is," a voice said near me. I looked up to see the bodiless statue of Terminus next to us.

"Hullo, Terminus," I said gloomily. The last time I'd seen him, I'd been under a full barrage of attacks. Not good memories.

"Hmm, hmm, too grumpy," he said. "And who's this? Vampires? Ariadne Jackson, you brought _vampires_ on to the grounds?"

"Shut it, Terminus," James snarled.

"And leave them alone," I added. "Goodbye." I grabbed Bella's hand and dragged her forward, knowing the Cullens would follow.

"Wait! That is completely unacceptable!" The cries of Terminus were ignored by us, as we kept walking.

"There'll be time for a tour later, but we have to get to Jason and Reyna now," I told the Cullens.

We stopped outside the entrance to the praetors' cabin. Both of them would be in there. I knew it.

"Come in," Jason called, knowing we were right outside.

I pushed open the door and walked in. "Hey Jason, Reyna."

Jason nodded at me. "Aria."

Reyna just nodded. She wasn't as fond of me as Jason was. Hell, she wasn't even fond of me.

After James said his hellos, I spoke up again.

"Jason and Reyna, these are the Cullens. Cullens, Jason and Reyna."

"Pleasure to meet you," Esme murmured, ever the polite one.

"So let's get down to business," Jason said, the corner of his mouth turning up at the euphemism. He looked at the Cullens. "Erm, if you want a tour—"

"We'd rather stay and listen to this," Jasper interrupted.

Reyna shot me a look. _I don't want them to listen._

_The mind-reader_, I reminded her. _He'll be able to tell anyways._

_Then talk in Greek and Latin_, Reyna shot back. I nodded, and so did Jason and James, having heard.

"I can read minds, you know," Edward said.

"Yeah, but you can't speak Greek or Latin," Reyna snapped. I could tell she already hated the Cullens.

"_So. Tell._" Jason commanded.

So, in a mix of Greek or Latin, I explained the entire story, from the first attack by the Lion, up till when Sean attacked me. Including the information that he gave us.

_"Looks like Mr. Banner's either another helper or the monster himself," _Jason observed. "_You should stay well away from him._"

"_Yeah, well, the thing is, Edward, Bella, and Alice, all have him for Biology. So how do we keep them away from him?" _I pointed out.

"_If he knows that you're with them, only then they're in trouble,"_ Reyna said. _"So as long as you keep that on the down-low, you're in the clear_."

"_We thought there was something odd with Sean's explanations,"_ James added. "_We weren't sure if he was telling the truth or not."_

_ "Probably was," _Jason said. _"Humans can't lie to us very well._"

Yet I still had an uneasy feeling about Sean's words. Oh well. I heard pounding footsteps outside, and I immediately thought that it was Percy.

But instead, Octavian, the camp's annoying-as-shit augur, came bursting through the door.

The moment he saw the Cullens, he stopped short. "So it is true!" he yelled. "Vampires have come to camp!"  
"Octavian," Reyna hissed, speaking in English again. "Shut up."

_Vampires must be examined as much as possible_. Octavian's thoughts were not very friendly towards the Cullens. Then, his eyes fell on Bella. _Oh, wow, that girl is hot. Wow. Just, wow. I need to talk to her._

I grinned at James, since he heard that too. If Octavian was going to give Bella a hard time, he would automatically infuriate Edward. And if a fight was going to happen, I hoped that this was the one fight where the vampire could beat the demigod.

Oh, this could get interesting.

**A/N: Review, please! Tell me if you still want the outtake in Sean's POV. It's kind of important to the plotline, but I don't want to post it. If you leave an anonymous review, PM me so I can send it to you. Bye :)**


	23. Hostile Praetors

**Chapter 24**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed again! I might be starting a more structured updating system, like maybe once a week or something. Maybe something along those lines. **

**Edward's POV**

At first, I was a bit confused as to why the girl with long black hair braided down her back did not want us to hear anything. But then I assumed that she didn't like us very much, but I also knew that Aria would fill us in later. So I didn't mind the Roman attitude much.

Well, that is, until the very skinny, odd-looking freak, ran in. I knew immediately on sight that I hated him, though I wasn't sure why.

"So it's true!" he literally screamed. "Vampires have come to camp!"

Oh, so demigods really do have no self control. I could tell that Carlisle and Esme were annoyed by this candid exclamation, and frankly, so was I.

"Octavian," the girl named Reyna hissed. "_Shut up_."

The freakishly skinny Octavian didn't speak afterwards, but his eyes darted around like little mice – taking all of us in, quite carefully. I could see Aria watching with apprehension.

His gaze finally fell on Bella, whom I was half-shielding with my body.

_Ooo, preeetyyyy_. That was the only thought that was available in his mind. And that was the only thing I needed to justify my hatred.

_Edward,_ Jasper's thought caught my attention. _He's lusting after her._

I growled under my breath.

"Octavian, get out," Aria commanded. She obviously didn't like him either. She was glancing warily at Bella, as if sensing Octavian's attraction towards her and reading the underlying danger.

"Who are _you_ to talk to _me_ like that?" Octavian demanded, turning towards Aria. "You brought vampires to camp! And you're just a puny little Greek demigod with no skill whatsoever—"

As if from thin air, a huge bucket of water rained down on Octavian's head. He shook his head frantically, making water spray everywhere.

"Aria!" Jason reprimanded, though he didn't seem to be too unhappy with her.

Aria was practically shaking with rage. I could tell that every muscle in her body was tensed up with the restraint not to attack that odd blonde right then and there.

"You know, Octavian," Aria hissed, even her voice shaking with rage. "Just because you're the augur, your mind isn't immune to my power. Get the _fuck _out of here."

When he didn't make any move towards the door, Aria yelled, "_NOW!_" And it was the scariest thing I'd ever seen her do.

Octavian backed towards the door, still soaking wet. His eyes held a threatening light, and I knew he could harm any one of us, or, hell, all of us, maybe even at the same time.

Aria was still tensed up, and that didn't change even when James hugged her to his chest.

He spoke something to Reyna in another language, and she nodded.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying," Reyna said curtly. She refused to look any of us in the eye. "Come on."

Wordlessly, we followed her.

"Um…is it okay if I stay behind?" Bella's timid voice asked.

Reyna looked at her in surprise.

"Let her," Aria said simply. This time, I looked at her in surprise.

Reyna gave a brief, curt, nod, before heading out the door.

"See you later," Bella told me, her lips brushing my cheek.

"Why?" I asked, but Emmett had already dragged me outside. So my family and I were led across the camp in silence, with me still pondering why my fiancé had a sudden urge to stay with Aria and James and Jason and that weird girl Reyna, who absolutely hated us.

And who was also ignoring us like there was no tomorrow.

She didn't utter a single word the entire time we were walking. Several children were mingling around, and they all scuttled out of her way when she got near them, but not before giving us curious glances.

I wanted to scream words that shouldn't be said in the presence of ladies at all of them.

Without the staring children, the camp really was quite interesting. The architecture was clearly Roman, but the style was so much purer than any of the other places that Roman architecture has been seen. Probably because it was the original thing, and not replicas.

We passed several cabin-like buildings, and several more children. Which added several more stares. It was starting to get old.

Reyna stopped our silent march outside one of the cabin-like buildings, and pushed the door open. She gestured for us to go inside, which we did.

"So is there where we—" Carlisle's question to Reyna was lost to the wind, because she had disappeared.

Esme exhaled in a huff. "That was _very_ polite."

"Wow, Mom, never thought you'd use sarcasm," Emmett chuckled.

"So…what do we do now?" Rose asked, looking around at the room.

"I dunno about you all, but I'm redecorating, and Jazz is helping me," Alice declared. "I mean, look at this place! It's a mess!"

"Wonderful observation, Ali," I noted. "And please, redecorate all you want. I don't like this cabin any more than you do."

It really was a mess. Four bunk beds were pushed up against the wall, eight mattress laid out on the respective beds. I wonder if they knew that we didn't sleep. There was a small door to one side, which I could see that led to a very dinky little bathroom – only one small light, one sink, and one tub. Fantastic.

The walls were a very ugly shade of brown. If I could puke, I would have.

"Yes, please, do," Esme begged. "I'll help too."

Carlisle laughed to himself. "It looks like you guys have a redecorating party all set up," he said. "I think I'll go look around some more."

"I'm going to find Bella," I announced to no one in particular. "I don't like leaving her alone here."

"Well duh," Rosalie said. "Who is?"

I just scowled at her and walked right back out of the cabin. That Reyna girl couldn't've really expected us to stay there, right? I didn't think I would get into any trouble for wandering around.

Luckily, I knew the way back to where I'd left Bella. Otherwise, I would be completely lost. All the buildings looked so similar that even I couldn't tell the difference.

I sighed. A month ago, where was I? Living a monotonously boring, but peaceful, vampiric life with my family and my human girlfriend. I didn't even know of the existence of this other…_otherworldly_ species.

And yet, here they were, three thousand years and still running. It never failed to amaze me.

As I wandered, I saw some of the training grounds, where demigods were fighting each other. It was a bit disturbing to watch, seeing them hack at each other with their spears and swords, but I knew that they wouldn't hurt themselves.

I stopped when I saw a bunch of unicorns. Considering that this was a camp for the children of the gods, I shouldn't've been as surprised as I was upon seeing the unicorns, but I couldn't help it.

Unicorns were mythical. At least, they were supposed to be. Just like the Greek gods. And Roman gods.

And vampires.

Oh, right. I'm supposed to be mythical too. Huh.

I stopped right outside the cabin that I'd left Bella at. I heard movement behind it, and people still conversing. But it was in English this time, and probably so that Bella could understand.

_Edward, if that's you out there, please go do something more productive_, Aria's mental voice pleaded with me. _We're going to be in here for a while. Don't even bother waiting for Bella._

I silently protested in my head, but I knew Aria wouldn't hear it.

_I know you want to wait for her,_ she thought again, her thoughts reaching me through the wooden door. Could she read my mind? _No, I still can't read your mind. I just know you that well. So go away now. Go amuse yourself. There must be something to do around here._

I wondered how Aria knew it was me. Probably because she expected me to wait, didn't she? But what was I supposed to do around here.

_You're still here, Edward. Go! _she yelled at me.

I sighed, turned around, and left. Now what was I supposed to do?

The answer to my problems turned up in a little hand, tugging at the edge of my clothes.

"Excuse me, mister?" A small voice said from somewhere near the ground. "Are you a vampire?"

I looked down, trying to see who was talking. I had to lean back a little bit to finally catch sight of the girl so small, that she only came up to my knee. Her blond hair hung in curls around her face, framing her small face and blue eyes.

I crouched down so that I could see her more easily. "Yes, I am," I said, surprising myself. Who knew I could talk to little kids? "How did you know?"

"Because you're pale, cold, and your hair," the girl listed, as if it was a textbook fact.

"Um, okay," I said. Honestly, what else was I supposed to say?

"Do you like it here?" she asked me. "Is it nice?"

Um, what was I supposed to say to that?

"Do you mean the camp?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid.

"Of course, Edward Cullen," the girl said.

It took me a minute to realize that she knew my name.

"How do you know my name?" I demanded, slightly on edge. This girl couldn't be dangerous, right?

She tilted her head back and let out a peal of laughter. "Who doesn't?"

What was that supposed to mean? I wished that Bella was here right now, because I sure as hell couldn't figure out this girl. I hadn't even tried reading her mind, because I was half afraid of the ADHD symptoms in there.

When I'd tried to read either Jason's or Reyna's minds, all I could see was the exact same as Aria and Jason – several different compartments, all working on different aspects at once. I had felt on the verge of a migraine, and vampires don't even get migraines.

"So…um…what's your name?" I asked awkwardly.

"Ariel," she said. "I'm Ariel."

The name fit her. It reminded me of little things, and I guess she was little. "How old are you?" I asked.

"Four," Ariel replied. "So, do you like the camp?"

"Um, sure," I said. "I'm kind of waiting for my fiancé, right now, and I'm kind of bored."

"Bella Swan?" Ariel asked, like she was asking for confirmation.

I nodded. I wondered if she could read minds, but she was only four. Her power couldn't be developed _that_ much.

"Er, yeah," I muttered. "How do you know all this?"

"Oh, the legends, of course," Ariel said clearly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She tugged my hand to a little patch of grass and plopped down. I followed her lead. "We learn all about the legends when we're not training. It's quite interesting."

I frowned. What were these legends? "So, you want to tell me these legends?"

Ariel just looked at me. "You're a vampire. You're the Cold Ones. You should drink human blood, but you drink animal blood. Because you're fighting your very existence. And you, you're the odd one out. You fell in love with human."

"Technically, all of my family fell in love with humans, except for Alice and Jasper," I said. It was true. Carlisle saved Esme, and then Rosalie begged Carlisle to save Emmett.

"Yes, but you're the only one who's leaving your soul mate human," she pointed out. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" I was confused.

"Resist the temptation to drink her blood."

She was so candid that it shocked me. How was I supposed to answer that.

"I…um…" How do I explain love to a four year old? "Er…see, when you care about someone…a lot…you don't want to do things that will hurt them."

"You love her."

This girl could not stop surprising me, could she? "Yes, I do."

"So why'd you beat around the bush?"

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Time to be candid myself. "You're _four_. How am I supposed to know how much you know?"

"You read minds, don't you? Read mine."

"It's confusing," I admitted. "Because you all are ADHD, I can't read your minds. It's a huge jumble of things."

"What if I try to focus on one thing at once?"

I shook my head. Even now, I could feel that her mind was racing at a million miles per hour. It made me wonder why the demigods of the world weren't being the science and math geniuses out there.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself," I said. "Since you know all about me."

Ariel looked down at her feet. "I'm four years old and a daughter of Ceres. The goddess of farming and grain. No one knows who my father is. Mom took me here when I was born. I was raised here."

"Who raised you?" I asked, curious.

"Aria and James."

"_What_?" I couldn't believe my ears.

Ariel smiled, but it was a humorless smile. When I saw her eyes, I knew that this girl was just like Aria. She was too young to have experienced the pain that she already knew of. It was just so unfair.

"Yes, she and James raised me. It's actually how they met."

"But neither of them are Roman!"

"Does that matter? Aria and James found this camp before anyone else did, even before her brother went missing."

"Percy went missing?"

Ariel sighed. "Long story. I don't want to be the one to tell you. When's he gonna get here, anyway?"

"I don't know, but continue."

"They raised me. What else is there to say? Aria's my big sister, my mom, my friend, basically, everything. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. No one took care of me otherwise. That's the only reason they didn't kill her on sight. Because she had me with her."

"But, she couldn't have been more then ten when you were born!"

"Does that mean she can't be the best substitute mom ever? My mom even said that she couldn't have done a better job herself."

"Your mom is a _goddess_."

"I figured, ya know?"

This girl really was like Aria. The sarcasm, the bluntness, her outlook on life, _everything._ That girl never failed to amaze me.

"So she raised you? When she was barely a kid herself?" The incredulity couldn't keep itself out of my voice.

"She was never a _kid_," Ariel muttered. "None of us ever were. You think we _ever_ have experiences like normal kids? We grow up too fast. I've seen things so horrible that if an adult human saw them, he would need therapy for the rest of his life. And you call her a _kid_?!"

There were, quite literally, no words to say. I'd grasped a little bit of what it was like to be a demigod from Aria and James, but never to this extent. Who knew a four year old could provide so much more insight, without me even reading her mind?

"So what did you do when she left?" I asked. "Aria, I mean. She went back to the Greek Camp at one point, right?"

"I went with her. You think I would let her leave me?"

I shook my head. "How come no one ever told me this before?"

"Did you ever ask?"

I didn't need to answer that question. She probably already knew the answer.

"You're so much like her," I said instead. "I should have been able to guess that Aria was the one who raised you."

Ariel giggled, and it was one of the happiest sounds I'd heard in a while. "Everyone says that. Even my own mother."

I smiled, not able to keep it off of my face. "You said that James and Aria met because they raised you, right? How did that happen?"

Ariel shrugged. "James met me first. Well, he didn't really meet me. He stopped some son of a bitch from attacking me. I was barely six months old."

I flinched at her use of the swear words, but I couldn't blame her.

"He became a…bodyguard, kind of," she continued. "And Aria came back to camp one day, and totally took over care for me. Chiron didn't let her at first, but she was really stubborn."

"A stubborn Aria," I said drily. "Wow, I can't even imagine."

Ariel laughed, recognizing the sarcasm. "You seem to know her well, then."

"So what's life at camp like?" I asked. "I'm curious."

She shrugged. "Interesting and boring at the same time. I follow a scheduled routine, but each day throws something new and unexpected at me."

I studied her carefully. "You don't talk like a four year old, you know?"

"So I've been told," she said, cracking another smile.

I suddenly noticed that I'd never talked to anyone, outside my family, as freely as I was talking to this little girl. Whom I met not more than ten minutes ago. Ah, well. Ever since the world of demigods came into my life, or more accurately, I came into theirs, nothing has ever been the same. But I liked it.

Bella came out of the cabin just then. She spotted me and made her way over. "Hi," she said to Ariel.

"Hi, Bella," Ariel said. "I'm Ariel. I've just been talking to your…fee-an-cee?" She looked at me, unsure how to pronounce it.

"Edward, what did you do to her?" Bella asked, exasperated.

"Nothing!" I said, trying to hide a smile. Nothing, except have a very odd conversation for a hundred-and-ten year old vampire and a four year old half-human.

"She's pretty," Ariel said, turning to me. Now she did sound like a four year old.

I smirked at Bella. "I know."

Bella laughed and picked Ariel up. "You're adorable, you know that?"

Ariel giggled.

In that moment, it felt like it didn't matter what this messed up life could throw at any of us. Because I had Bella. Every day, I fell more and more in love with her.

And it was perfect.

**A/N: Hope y'all liked that, it was just a bunch of fluff with useful stuff in there somewhere ;P **

** Someone suggested the idea of writing this in Emmett's point of view, to see how the family takes being back at camp and all that. If you want to read that, put it in a review. If you're an Anon reviewer, put your email username and then the domain that you use, so that FF can't blot it out. For example: the email address ariapyrasyria for the domain gmail : I would put: "ariapyrasyria" and then "gmail" with a space or a couple words in between. See how that works? Review, please! Bye :)**


	24. The Discussion

**Chapter 25**

**A/N: Can we try hitting 120 or more reviews here? Pretty please? Thanks! :)**

**Aria's POV**

"Um…is it okay if I stay behind?" Bella asked timidly, just as Reyna was about to lead all of them out of the door.

The four half bloods in the room looked at her like she was mental. Including me.

_It would be fun and interesting,_ Bella thought at me. _I want to learn more_.

"Let her," I said, being convinced by her thoughts. And now everyone looked at me like _I_ was mental. Funny.

Reyna nodded curtly before sweeping out of the door.

"See you later," Bella said, kissing Edward goodbye.

"Why?" he asked, confused, but Emmett dragged him out behind their family.

There was an awkward silence, as Jason looked from me, to James, to Bella, and then back to me.

"So…" I said, half-heartedly attempting to break the silence.

"Why'd you wanna stay?" Jason asked Bella, sounding curious.

Bella fidgeted under his gaze, turning a slight shade of pink. "'Cause I wanted to know what goes on here. It's pretty interesting."

"Right," he said. "Well, you're welcome to listen in." He glanced at me. _Talk in Latin_.

"No," I said. "I'm talking in English."

Jason looked surprised at my defiance, but let it go. "So you are positive that Mr. Banner was the teacher?"

"Quite," James said. "Sean admitted it, but he looked like he'd done something wrong afterwards."

"I think that he knew what he was doing, but even his thoughts said he didn't know," I added.

"So why do you still think he knew what he was doing?" Jason asked.

"I don't know…" I trailed off.

"It's just a hunch," James finished. "And when Aria has a hunch—"

"Yeah, yeah, it's always right," Jason grumbled. "First hand experience."

I grinned. "So, what are we going to do about this? We need to figure out for sure if Banner's the monster or just a helper."

Jason pondered. I could see the direction of his thoughts…which meant James could too.

"NO!" James roared. "You are _not_ making her do that!"  
"It's just an idea!" Jason said, holding up his hands in defense.

"What?" Bella asked. "What does he want her to do?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that big of a deal. He just wants me to go into his classroom and pull out my sword. See if it gets a reaction."

"And you're _not_ doing that," James growled. "Too dangerous."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, James, I know you love being the overprotective boyfriend, but really, how much danger could I possibly be in?"

"At least not until you heal fully," James pleaded. "Please?"

"How long until then?" Jason asked.

"Two weeks, give or take a day or two," I said. "I'm already healing pretty damn fast. I can't do anything else about it."

"Alright, we need another option then," Jason said. "'Cause we're not waiting two weeks."

"What about if they just transfer into our class?" Bella suggested. "Since we have Biology with Banner, they can move to our class, so even if he does attack, Edward can help."

"That sounds okay," James said. "I like that idea a bit better."

"And if he doesn't do anything in those two weeks?" I questioned.

"Then we go with the original plan of you and your sword," Jason said. "How long are you guys planning on staying here?"

"A day or two," I said. "Depends on when Percy gets here. I still need his approval for the plan and everything."

James snorted. "I bet he'll react just like I did."

"And you won't even be able to pull the overprotective boyfriend crap," Jason laughed.

"I _can_ pull the overprotective brother crap," I said, smirking. "Don't even try to stop me from going with that plan. It's the best we have right now."

"Other than just killing him slowly and torturously and finding out all his secrets in the process," Bella muttered.

"Hey, that's not that bad of an idea," Jason mused.

Bella looked horrified. "I was joking! That's a horrible thing to do!"

"Alright, we won't do it," I said. "Don't worry."

"So what should we do while we're here?" James asked Jason.

"Help me and Reyna," he said. "Battle plans and everything. And train, and maybe conduct training sessions."

"Can you refill us on ambrosia and nectar?" I asked. "We're running kind of low, and I still need it for my wing."

Jason nodded. "Remind me before you leave."

"So what do my family and I do?" Bella asked.

Jason shrugged. "Do whatever," he said. "Explore, follow us around, talk to campers, anything. If you want, you guys can train…wait, you're human. Never mind."

"I can still fight," Bella said indignantly.

"No, you can't," I stated. "Don't even bother," I added, when she opened her mouth to protest.

Just then, Reyna walked back into the cabin, returning from showing the Cullens their quarters.

"Don't bother filling me in," she said. "I was listening to Jason's thoughts on the way back."

Jason made a little sound of indignation. "I hate that you can do that so well."

Reyna smirked. "It's the joy of being a praetor."

Jason scowled.

"I think the idea of Aria going in with her sword is a decent one," Reyna said. "That is, after you heal, of course."

"But for now, we're just transferring to their class," James insisted. I rolled my eyes, knowing that he'd never put me in any danger, even if it wasn't even dangerous.

"Just make Edward talk to Mrs. Cope," Bella said. "That woman is seriously a cougar."

I smirked. "I know." I heard footsteps outside, and it sounded like Edward was coming to look for Bella.

_Edward, if that's you out there, please go do something more productive_, I told him. _We're going to be in here for a while. Don't even bother waiting for Bella._

I waited a second for that thought to reach him.

_ I know you want to wait for her, _I continued. Even though I couldn't read his mind, he was still pretty easy to read. _No, I still can't read your mind. . I just know you that well. So go away now. Go amuse yourself. There must be something to do around here._

I waited for his footsteps to recede, but heard nothing.

_You're still here, Edward. Go!_ I yelled in my mind. I heard him sigh and turn around, his footsteps fading into the distance.

_Good boy_, I thought, but I doubt he heard it. If he did, I'd've been able to sense his rage.

Bella opened her mouth like she had a question, but closed it at the last second.

I smirked. "Spill it, sweetie. We can all read your mind anyway."

"What if there's a monster attack when we're here?" she asked, obviously dying to voice this question.

"Nothing's gonna happen to you or the vampires," Reyna said. "We've got _way_ too much backup for that."

"The Legions?" James said.

"Yup," Reyna answered. "They'd have to go through all five hundred plus of us before even getting to the vampires or you."

"Wow," Bella whispered. "There are that many of you?"

"Yup," I said. "All highly trained in the art of killing."

"Can I watch them train?" Bella questioned.

Jason looked at Reyna before responding. "I guess," he said. "As long as the people in question are okay with it."

"Of course," Bella said. "I'd make sure of that first."

"So when's Percy getting here?" I asked. "He didn't tell me how long it would take."

"He said there was something to take care of at camp," Reyna relayed the message. "It's gonna be a couple more hours."

I sighed. When would he get here already? There was so much to discuss. In the silence, I could hear little strains of people talking, and mind of one demigod.

_Ariel!_ James thought. _That's Ariel's voice_.

I knew I'd recognized it. It was my little friend Ariel, daughter of Ceres. She and I had a long history, which involved me practically raising her from when I turned ten. That also happens to be how James and I met, so I have only her to thank for that.

So who was she talking to?

Oh….it was Edward. Who knew he could talk to little children?

"Bella," I said, smirking. "Your fiancé is out there talking to a four-year-old girl. I think it's safe to say that he wants you to go to him right now."

Bella's mouth dropped open. "Edward…and a four year old? What _happened_?"

Reyna laughed. "Go console him. You can talk to us later if you want."

"Bye!" Bella called, as she exited the cabin to look for her bored fiancé.

I laughed, wondering exactly how bored Edward would have to be to talk to a four year old. Pretty damn bored, I would guess.

"So what are the Cullens really like?" Jason asked, after Bella left. "Have they really been taking care of you for this long?"

"Yup," James nodded. "They've been really nice about it too."

"They're really nice," I said. "Not at all like the vampires that the legends portray. Even for animal-eating vampires, they're nice."

"I should've guessed," Reyna said. "They seemed really nice, but they kind of freak me out, pale skin and all. So, which one is which?"

"Alice is the short hyper one," I said. "Edward is – well, you can figure that out, and you know Bella. Jasper's the empathy – the blond one. He's mated with Alice. Rosalie is the tall blond girl, and Emmett is the muscular one with dark hair. Esme and Carlisle are like their parents."

"Hmm," Jason mused. "If I hadn't known they were vampires, I would've thought they were human."

"No, they only look it from a distance," James argued. "They have the same supernatural quality around them like we do."

"Yeah," Reyna agreed. "What powers do they have?"

"In general, vampires are really fast and can hear really well," James said. "But only three of the family have any powers."

"Alice sees the future, Jasper can sense moods, and Edward can read minds," I added. "Well, Bella can block Edward's mind-reading, but it's only in her subconscious – not an actual power."

"It's pretty cool that she can do that," Jason said. "I wonder how."

"Probably some sort of mental shield," I theorized. "How else would she do it?"

"Speaking of shields, Edward can read your mind, can't he?" Reyna asked.

"Yeah," I said. "It's only 'cause I took down the shield that I always have around me and James. I needed the energy for my wing to heal."

"But it's really only your subconscious shielding you, right?" Jason said. "So he won't be able to read our minds still."

"Unless you're injured and using the energy otherwise," James put in. "Then he'll be able too."

I smirked. "I doubt it, since he said that ADHD minds are really confusing."

Reyna laughed. "I don't doubt it. I remember the first time I actually heard a true ADHD mind. I nearly passed out."

"So are you really going to let Bella watch some training?" James asked, changing the topic completely.

Jason frowned for a second. "I wasn't completely sure about that, since I think there's a risk of her getting hurt, but if we say the Cullens can, then I think it's only fair that she gets to watch too."

"But definitely no participating for her," Reyna insisted. "She's not getting hurt on our account."

"Oh, that reminds me," Jason said. "It's game night tonight. We've already built the fort."

"Yay!" I said enthusiastically, clapping my hands. "I love them! It's really fun to watch everyone tear each other to pieces."

James laughed. "You're so nice, Aria. And don't even think about trying to get into the game."

I scowled. I had been thinking about it, actually. "I wasn't—"

"Don't even try it," James smirked. "I know what you're thinking."

I stuck my tongue out at him, reminding myself of a little five-year-old.

"Aww, you two are just too cute," Reyna said, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "I'm surprised you aren't making out right now."

"Are you saying we can?" James asked eagerly. I laughed and hit him on the shoulder.

"No, you can't," Jason said quickly. "At least wait until we're out of the room. Have that much compassion."

I giggled. "Remember when we walked in on you and—"

"Yes, we don't need to be reminded of that!" Jason nearly yelled. "You can shut up now."

James chuckled. "Then don't reprimand us on that."

Just as Reyna opened her mouth to say something, Hazel came running in through the door.

"Guys! Guys!" she yelled.

"What?" I said, slightly worried at the tone of her voice.

"The showers—exploded—"

"What the hell?" Jason yelled, hand immediately flying towards his gladius.

"No, no, it's a prank," Hazel panted. "But the shower water exploded."

"Who did it?" Reyna demanded.

"Emmett!" James and I yelled at the same time.

"Well, I knew he'd get bored sooner or later," I muttered. "We have to go stop them from thinking it's a threat!"

"Hurry up!" Hazel yelled, running back outside.

As I followed her outside, I tried to get Edward's attention by thinking.

_Edward, get the fuck out here. Your brother decided that it was the absolute best time to pull a fucking prank_.

I didn't even listen around myself to see if he heard the message. I don't know what possessed Emmett to pull a prank right now, but he obviously must've had some sort of brain malfunction.

Did he realize that he could antagonize the entire camp against his family? Stupid little idiot.

Why the _fuck_ did he have to pick now?


	25. Practice War

**Chapter 26**

**A/N: Right now, I'm kind of unsure how long I should make this story. Some suggestions, please? Do y'all have enough interest in it to keep going? **

**Edward's POV**

_Edward, get the fuck out here. Your brother decided that it was the absolute best time to pull a fucking prank_.

Did I have any doubt as to who said brother was? Absolutely not.

I stood up abruptly, startling Bella.

"What is it?" she asked, looking alarmed.

"Emmett. Prank," I hissed through my teeth. She got the message.

I'd always known that my brother was not the brightest match in the box, but seriously? Pulling a prank on people who 1) we didn't know, and 2) already wanted to kill us? I didn't think that even _he_ could get that dumb.

I followed the sound of James's footsteps until I reached a wooden building similar to the ones around it, but this one had steam coming out of it. And several _very_ disgruntled demigods wrapped in towels.

"What the fuck," one seethed at Emmett, who was rolling on the ground in laughter.

I prodded him with my foot. "Dude, get up."

"What happened?" Aria demanded.

"The water," one of the half bloods said, glaring at me like _I _was the one who caused the prank.

James groaned and put his head in his hands.

Aria glared at Emmett, who was still rolling on the ground. "Why, Emmett, why?"

"Yeah, why?" Rose said, appearing suddenly behind me. "If this is how you're going to behave, I'm not going to speak to you for an entire week."

That got Emmett to sit up.

"Rosie, baby, it was just for fun!" he wailed.

"No, it was not fucking _fun_," another demigod growled. "Consider yourself lucky that we're not killing you right now."

"Look, I'm sure it was just for fun," Aria said, sounding a bit annoyed. I didn't blame her. "It's just his way of breaking the ice."

"I swear, he behaves like a five year old sometimes," Rose said. She glared at Emmett. "Get up and apologize."

Emmett sighed, and stood up. "Sorry for making the showers explode," he mumbled.

"Will it happen again?" Rose prompted.

Emmett sighed again. "It won't happen again."

The demigod who'd spoken first smirked. "If my skin wasn't burning right now, I'd find this funny."

"Why aren't you jumping around in pain, then?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Because I'm fucking magical, douchebag," he snarled.

_You should've just kept your mouth shut_, Aria thought. Yeah, I should've.

"Go away now, Emmett," Jason commanded. I hadn't even noticed that he was there.

Emmett followed Rosalie like a little puppy, her dragging him away from the scene of the prank.

"Go put some clothes on," Reyna said, wrinkling her nose. "I'm sure the showers are alright now. Aria?"

"Yeah, they are," she sighed.

"Gods, I'm sorry," I groaned. "I didn't realize he would get that bored."

James sighed as well. "It's Emmett. We should've expected it."

"Keep your siblings in line," Reyna said. "I don't want to deal with a demigod vampire war."

"I wonder who would win that," Jason mused.

Aria hit him on the shoulder. "Don't even think about it!"

"I wasn't!" he protested.

She raised her eyebrows. "That line _really_ doesn't work when I can read your mind."

Jason simply scowled at her, and she smirked.

"Hey, what happened here?" a new voice said in surprise. We all spun around to face Percy, who was surveying the wreckage of the showers with a blond girl by his side.

"Percy!" Aria yelled, and quite literally threw herself at him.

He laughed. "Hey, sis. I missed you too. If you want me to keep breathing, get off of me."

Aria released him, and turned to the blond girl. "Annabeth, long time no see!"

"Too long, sweetie," she said, pulling her into a tight hug. It seemed kind of maternal.

After they all said their hellos to each other, and I found out that Annabeth was Percy's long-time girlfriend, he glanced back at the showers.

"Emmett," Aria said in explanation.

Percy sighed. "Make sure they don't attack the Cullens."

"Wait, _what_?" I squeaked. I didn't want people attacking us!

"Did you just _squeak_?" James said disbelievingly. A second later, he cracked up. "Oh, this is too good! Edward Cullen just squeaked!"

"Oh, shut up," I said.

"Anyway," Reyna cleared her throat. "If you don't anger any of us anymore, I'm sure no one will attack. Well…I can't guarantee it."

"Oh, hilarious," Aria said sarcastically. "We all really needed those images."

"What?" I asked, not liking being oblivious.

"Nothing," James said, all-too-innocently, glancing at Aria and grinning.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them and tried to read their minds, but all I got was the lyrics to some modern pop songs.

"Did Alice teach you the art of blocking me?" I grumbled.

Aria smiled. "You bet."

"Just don't antagonize anyone any further," Jason advised. "I don't know how long it'll take them to cool down."

"Jesus Christ, you'd think that with the way Emmett behaves he was a toddler, and not a hundred-something year old vampire," Annabeth muttered.

Percy burst out laughing, while Aria grinned.

"You have no idea how right you are," I said, quite seriously. "I really do doubt sometimes that he ever matured past seven."

"I agree," Jason said. "Well, we have to go get prepared for the game tonight. Percy, Annabeth, come see us when you can. James, you and Aria can do whatever you want for now. Just don't get into any trouble. And make sure the Cullens stay out of trouble too."

"Hey!" I protested, sounding like a little boy.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "He's kidding, jeez. See you guys later."

"Wait, what game?" I asked, feeling a bit out of things.

"It's their version of Capture the Flag," Annabeth supplied.

"Well, what's Capture the Flag?" I asked again.

"Jesus Christ—" Annabeth started.

"Annabeth, cut him some slack. He's never been to New York," Aria defended me. "You'll see what it is tonight," she said to me. She looked around, as if noticing something for the first time. "Hey, where's Bella?"

"With that little girl, Ariel," I said.

"Fucking hell!" Aria yelled. "Did _no one _feel like telling me that Ariel was _here_?!"

"Sorry, forgot about it," James said, shrugging.

She glared at him before disappearing in the direction I came from.

James smiled sheepishly. "She really missed Ariel since we moved to Forks."

"I gathered," I said. "So will someone explain to me what this game is?"

Percy sighed. "I volunteer. This camp is split into five cohorts, based on training skill. Every couple nights, they have war games, just to keep in practice. It's usually a few of them defend something, and the other cohorts have to try to get it."

"That sounds pretty easy," I said.

Annabeth burst out laughing. "Is he for real?"

"Be nice," Percy scolded. "He's new at this."

"No, it isn't easy," James said, chuckling. "It's—well, you'll have to see for yourself. Your family will be watching with the rest of us today."

"Why aren't you guys playing?" I asked.

"You _really_ think either of us would let Aria play?" James said incredulously, gesturing to himself and Percy.

Annabeth shook her head in wonder. "He can't be for real."

"Annabeth," Percy said, reprimanding her.

"So what're you guys gonna do now?" James asked Annabeth and Percy.

"We need to go catch up with Reyna and Jason," Percy said. "Something about the monster. And no, you and Aria don't need to be there. We'll meet again at the strategy planning session."

"I'm gathering that there's not going to be a formal meeting of the senate?" James asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "Just us, and the centurions. No need for the campers."

"Why are we leaving them out of this? It's their camp," James argued.

"Because if this blows up, they're not in the direct line of fire," Percy supplied. "You and Aria are, and so are Reyna and Jason. They're the closest. And then Annabeth and me."

"I guess you're right," James conceded. "Hey, weren't you supposed to bring Piper and Leo with you?"

"They couldn't come," Annabeth said. "Underhanded mission."

"I'm sorry, I'm still pretty lost here," I interrupted. "What's a meeting of the senate? And what are centurions? And what is an underhanded mission?"

Annabeth sighed and shook her head, and Percy just looked amused. So I turned to James.

"A meeting of the senate is when all the centurions and senators gather in the senate house to decide on or discuss something," he started. "Centurions are the leader of the cohorts; two for each cohort. An underhanded mission is a sneak attack mission, basically. Not a long quest or anything. Just a simple attack plan to blow up one of the enemy's bases. Good enough?"

"I guess that covers it all," I said.

"We need to get to Jason and Reyna," Percy reminded Annabeth, pulling at her hand.

"See you later," Annabeth called to James. "And, by the way, Cullen, the amount of questions you ask won't get you anywhere."

"Annabeth!" I heard Percy scold again.

James snickered. "I'm going to go find my girlfriend. And you probably want to find your fiancé. Come on."

I followed him back to where Bella and Aria were playing with Ariel, running around in little circles.

As I watched them interact, I realized that Aria really did raise this little girl. Everything she did had a maternal hint to it, including letting Ariel tackle her down to the grass in a game of tag.

How odd.

After a couple hours, it started to get a tiny bit darker, and Aria said that we had to head to the dining hall soon.

"But they don't eat," Bella protested, gesturing to me.

"I know that, but if they're not there, the campers are automatically going to assume the worst," she explained patiently.

"Ah, well, at least you'll be there," Bella said, sliding her arms around me. I kissed her hair.

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask," I said, reminded of something. "Is my family and I allowed to sit in on this strategy meeting?"

"I don't know," James said dubiously. "Aria?"

She shrugged. "Dunno either. We'll just have to ask. Now come on, unless you want them to send a faun after us."

"What's a faun?" Bella and I said at the same time.

James rolled his eyes. "I need to start keeping track of your questions."

Aria laughed. "You guys will see soon enough."

I did see soon enough what a faun was, when I was sitting a table in the dining hall, surrounded by my family, Aria, James, Percy, and Annabeth. It was supposedly the 'honorary guests' table.

"Yo, who are the pale faces?" someone said from behind me.

I turned around to see who it was, and instead, got an eyeful of…a goat.

"Excuse me, are you a goat?" Alice said.

The goat glared at her. "I'm a faun," he snapped.

"The nature spirits," Annabeth explained, laughing.

"D'you have any money?" the faun asked me, leaning on my shoulder.

"Vitus, leave him alone," Aria scolded. "They don't carry Roman money with them. You know that."

"Hey, you're awful cold," Vitus said. I scowled.

"No shit, Sherlock," James responded. "They're vampires, haven't you heard?"

Vitus yelped and leapt backwards. I sighed. Was this the reaction we would always get in this world?

"Fucking Christ, calm down!" Percy yelled. "They don't hurt people like us! Or you, for that matter, though I'm seriously considering it."

"Sorry, man," Vitus said to me. And at the rest of my family. "Didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about it," Emmett said. "Hey, do you gamble?"

Rosalie groaned. "Try it, and I swear you'll be sleeping on the couch for a month."

"I won't answer that, dude," Vitus chuckled. "As none of you have any food or money, I'll be going. Laters!"

Aria chuckled. "That, my dear vampiric friends, was a faun."

"What lovely characters," Esme said sarcastically, surprising us again.

"Interesting phenotypical makeup," Carlisle mused.

"Stop the doctoring stuff, dad," Emmett said.

"Just because you don't get it doesn't mean the rest of us don't," Jasper sneered.

"Just because—"

"Alright, boys, that's enough," Esme deadpanned. Only the gods knew how much she had to do that. Scratch that, did they know how much? Like, did they ever pay attention?

Annabeth suddenly snorted into her food.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked. She looked at him for a minute, and then he burst out laughing. Aria and James joined in a second later.

"I feel like we're missing something," Rose said. "Would you mind telling us?"

Annabeth looked straight at me. "My mom said to tell you that yes, they do know how many times, and yes, they do pay attention sometimes. And to shut your thoughts up."

If I had been able to, I would've blushed. "How does she know? Wait, who's your mom?"

"Athena," Annabeth said, still giggling. "And she knows 'cause she's a goddess. Just because we can't read your mind doesn't mean they can't."

Bella started giggling. "Seriously, Edward? Really?"

"Hey, don't make me tickle you," I said.

She blushed and stopped laughing abruptly.

"Holy shit, I just realized that we have a grand total of six couples here," Percy announced.

I winced. "Would it kill you all to stop swearing?" I asked. "I mean, what real reason is there for swearing?"

"Edward doesn't seem to get the concept of swearing," Emmett explained. "He's always been very averse to it."

"I didn't know you even knew what averse meant," Alice said.

"Pixie," Emmett retorted. Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

Before Esme could reprimand either of them, a loud sound from the front of the room distracted us.

"Alright, everyone, you know what time it is!" Jason yelled, from his position atop a table.

The entire camp burst into deafening cheers so loud I thought that I would go deaf.

"Same rules, same structure," Jason continued yelling above the din. "Three and Four are defending, One, two, and five are attacking. Move out!"

Again, another deafening clamor as five hundred plus demigod children thundered outdoors.

"Well," Aria sighed, hoisting herself off the bench. "That's our cue. Come on, guys."

"Where are we going?" Alice piped up.

"Watch tower," Percy said. "It's where we stand to watch the game."

"Go the fast way," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's hand. "It's a lot more fun."

"What's the fast way?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll find out," Aria said, with a devilish grin.

"Oh no—" Rose started, but she didn't get to finish her sentence. All I heard was someone stomping their foot, then a bunch of water rushing around me, and then my feet hitting the ground.

_Ow_.

"That was fun," James said serenely, still upright after that ordeal.

"What was _that_?" Esme gasped.

"That," Aria said, grinning. "Was the fast way."

"Toldja it was fun," Annabeth said.

"Was not," I muttered. "My feet hurt."

"Aww, poor _baybee_," Bella cooed, wrapping herself around me.

"Don't get too cozy, the game's about to begin," Percy warned. "You'd want to see this."

I looked around, realizing that we were in a watch tower. Oh. The walls were non existent, providing a clear view of what was going on in the field below.

At first, I thought I was just looking at bushes. But then I realized that those five humongous bushes were actually groups of _people_.

"Holy fuck, how the hell can the legion be that big?" Emmett yelled.

"Language," Esme reprimanded.

Aria laughed. "I know, it's really big."

"That would be an understatement," Bella said, voicing my thoughts exactly.

"It's got to be at least a thousand people," Jasper noted.

"Give or take a few," Percy corrected. "They've had a couple additions."

"Shush, the game is starting," Aria scolded. "I wanna watch."

"Yeah, you wanna watch people rip each other apart," James snickered. Aria glared at him, and he shut up. And then snuck a little kiss as she turned away.

I exchanged a glance with Emmett and chuckled. All guys are alike, no matter what species.

As I turned my attention to the battle before me, I was once again truly awed by the power of the demigods.

Ariel had told me that the Fifth Cohort had always been the underdog – the place where the horrible fighters went. Now, they were attacking the fortress with an energy I didn't think was possible. The First and Second Cohorts barely had any work to do.

The Third and Fourth were also putting up a very good fight – it was evenly matched. Swords were flying, shields clashing – the entire battlefield was a mess.

When the first golden eagle flew up to the watch tower and deposited an injured camper, I swear I nearly jumped out of my skin. I mean, who expects a metal eagle to come flying in at any second.

Only the four half bloods with us kept calm, telling us that it was alright.

During the entire battle, Reyna was patrolling on her flying horse – Scipio, I think it was called. It was good to see that though they were fighting, everyone knew it was just for show.

As I watched, a water canon was hit by an arrow and promptly exploded.

"Damn," Emmett whistled. "They're good."

No one commented, because we were all too caught up in watching this mock-war.

Aria turned around to look at us, and I saw a slow smile spread across her face as she took in our raptured expressions.

Who knew Vampires could learn something new?

With a very loud yell, one camper leapt up from his entire group and jumped onto the edge of the wall. A couple more followed him, and they dropped to the other side quickly.

Before anyone from the opposing team could move, the doors were opened from the inside, and all three cohorts that were on the outside stormed in.

Within a couple minutes, Reyna's ever-loud whistle blew, signifying the end of the game.

"Remember what happened last time we had visitors?" I heard Aria whisper to Percy.

Percy nodded grimly. "Ares."

"Not pretty," Aria said. "Oh well. Past is past." She turned around and saw me looking at her, and gave a quick grin.

"Well, show's over, folks," James said. "It's time to get back out."

"Please, not the fast way," Bella begged. "I think I'm going to vomit."

"Well, would _you_ like to jump out the window?" Annabeth questioned. "'Cause that's the only other way out."

Bella shuddered. "Alright, alright. Fast way it is."

I took her into my arms. "I'll cuddle you all the way through it."

"Now _that_ makes me feel better," she said, snuggling into my arms. I rested my chin gently on her head, feeling her arms wrap around me.

I closed my eyes as I felt the water rushing around me again, and we were soon back on the ground, away from the watch tower.

"It's time for the strat meeting," Percy said to Aria. "We should go."

"Aren't we coming with you?" I asked. "You said we could."

"I guess," Aria said dubiously. "But only you and Bella."

"You'll fill us in later, right?" Carlisle confirmed.

James nodded. "Of course. You guys should go now. We'll see you later."

"Try not to get into any trouble," Aria added.

"You know we don't," Alice said.

"Yes, but I know Emmett does," she replied, glaring at Emmett. He just grinned.

"We'll be back in an hour or so. Not too long." Percy began walking towards the praetor's cabins again.

"See you later," I told my family, taking Bella's hand again.

And we headed off towards the meeting.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! **

** I'm going to be posting a new story soon, called **_**The Survivor**_**. It's set in the middle of a war, and Bella and Edward are both at refugee camps. No Charlie/Renée or Carlisle/Esme. Let me know if you're interested! **

** Also, I'm posting a small one-shot about Percy and Annabeth. It's already up, so read and review, please! Thanks!**


	26. Life at Home

**Chapter 27**

**A/N: Review, pretty please! My birthday is soon – so leave me a little present! :D**

**Aria's POV**

It was fun, to watch the way the Cullens reacted to the war game. All the fighting, bloody and brutal, but still in fun.

"It's time for the meeting," Percy told me, just after we'd exited the watch tower.

"Let's go, then," I said. Bella and Edward wanted to come with us, so we let them, with promises that we'd fill in the rest of the Cullen family afterwards.

"So what's going to happen at this meeting?" Bella asked, as we walked towards the praetors' cabins.

"It's a strat meeting," Annabeth said. "Strategy. We're basically planning our next move, once Aria heals and they get back to Forks."

I sighed. "I hate that everything depends on how fast I heal. I wish I'd never gotten hurt in the first place."

"No one blames you," James said, rubbing my shoulders. "That monster was taught how to fight. That isn't usually how it goes."

"Well, we know we're dealing with something different," Percy said. "It's expected now."

"So who else is going to be there?" Edward asked. "Other than Jason and Reyna and you guys."

"The centurions from each cohort," I said. "We wanted to keep all the Senators out of this. There's no need for them to know."

Bella sighed. "This place is so pretty," she said lovingly.

Percy snorted. "You should've seen it under attack."

"Excuse me," Edward said. "I'd rather she didn't see it during an attack."

"Overprotective fiancé," Bella muttered grudgingly.

I laughed. "So when's the wedding?"

"As soon as he agrees to change me," Bella said promptly.

"Bella!" Edward reprimanded .

"So you want to be one of them," Annabeth observed. "Huh."

"I already am one of them," Bella said. "Just not their species, yet."

James snickered. "I like the way she thinks. Her thoughts are funny."

Edward frowned. "I wish I could read her mind."

"No, you don't," Bella said immediately. "I'm glad you can't."

"And you can't blackmail me into it, either," I said, giggling. "Though it was funny to watch you try."

Edward scowled. "Very funny, Aria. Funny. I'll get you back one day, you know?"

"Yes, I know," I said. "Good luck trying." I smirked.

We'd reached the wooden doors of the cabin. Percy knocked three times.

"Come in!" Jason's voice said, and Percy swung open the door.

Sitting at a circular table were twelve people, spaced out evenly around it. Two centurions from each cohort, and Jason and Reyna. Dakota and Gwendolyn were from the fifth, Sophia and Mason from the fourth, Hayley and Dylan from the third, Maddy – whose full name was Madison – and Hunter from the second, and finally, Jasmine and Octavian from the first.

Goddamnit. Octavian was here. I felt Edward tense up near me, and I wished that I could calm him down. At least he didn't know what Octavian was thinking about Bella. At least, I hoped he didn't. God help Octavian if he did.

"Hey, guys," Reyna said. "Pull up chairs and sit down, please."

We did as she said, realigning the entire setting so that we had space.

"Well," I said finally. "If you haven't gotten a chance to meet them yet, this is Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Guys, these are the centurions."

"Dakota, Gwendolyn, Sophia, Mason, Hayley, Dylan, Maddy, Hunter, Jasmine, and Octavian," Jason said. "From left to right."

They all nodded at Edward and Bella, and Bella smiled back. Edward just sat there with a locked jaw and a stony face, until I glared at him. He forced a small smile, which disappeared in about a millisecond.

I rolled my eyes.

Jason cleared his throat. "Anyway, you've all been briefed on the state of things right now," he said. "And we have to plan out our next moves."

"So what happened with that teacher and the student?" Hayley asked. "I've only heard generalizations."

I quickly briefed everyone on the happenings, leaving out the part where Sean nearly molested me. That would be awkward to explain.

"We weren't sure if he knew what he was doing or not, but I have a hunch that he does know," I finished.

"I suggested that Aria just go into the teacher's room and pull her sword out," Jason said.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Percy yelled. "Hell no! That is _not_ happening!"

James nudged me. "Told you so."

I elbowed him. "Shut up."

"I told her she wouldn't do it until she was fully healed!" Jason protested. "It's still a viable idea!"  
"_Only_ after she's properly healed," Percy huffed.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, guys, I feel like some sort of delicate little doll."

"Wouldn't be too far off," Octavian muttered at me. I glared at him.

"So then Bella came up with the idea of them just moving into their Biology class during the two weeks that Aria's healing, and seeing what happens," Reyna said, attempting to diffuse some of the tension.

"So that way, if he does try to attack, the Cullens are extra backup," James put in. "It makes sense."

"And what about Sean?" Hunter asked. "How are you going to know whether he knew what he was doing or not?"

I sighed. "That's kind of the complicated part. If he knew what he was doing, he must've been taught to block his thoughts, from both Edward and us. And since my powers are a teeny bit more complex and layered than the rest, he must've been taught pretty well. So it'll take a hell of a lot of digging around to see if he was actually faking or not."

"Jasper can help with that," Edward said. "If you're talking to him, he can see what mood Sean is in. And that might be a helping factor in deciding."

"That's a good idea," Annabeth said, speaking for the first time. "What about Alice? Will she be able to see anything?"

Edward shrugged. "We can try, but I'm not sure she'll be one hundred percent effective. Demigods can block her sight pretty well."

"Not our fault that we're so strong," Octavian muttered.

I sighed. Was this guy just intent on creating trouble? "Octavian, if you've got a grudge against the Cullens, please actually come out and say it, instead of muttering cowardly things in your little corner," I said.

Octavian sneered at me, and I glared right back.

"Alright, we can deal with that later," Reyna said. "We need to decide on a plan of action."

"Well, I think that whatever was suggested just now was pretty good," Mason said. "Have them switch to Banner's class, see if anything happens. Read his mind, of course."

"And if anything strange happens, Aria and James will be able to communicate with Edward. He can just be tuned into their thoughts at all times." "You'll just have to tone down the ADHD bit of your brain," Edward said. "I'm not sure I can handle that."

James chuckled. "In that case, good luck."

"And for Sean, the triple mind reading plus emotion control sounds good," Maddy noted. "I think we've got a pretty solid plan."

"Good," I said. "We'll transfer first thing once we get back to Forks."

"When are you guys leaving, anyway?" Percy asked me.

"Um, we're not entirely sure," James said. "Whenever Mrs. O'Leary is ready to travel again, I guess."

"Her three day recovery period will be up tomorrow," Annabeth said.

"I guess we leave tomorrow, then." I looked at Edward for confirmation, and he nodded.

"Alright!" James said. "Meeting adjourned. Go get rest. We have training sessions tomorrow. Aria, you haven't forgotten that you're teaching some, right?"

I shook my head. "I remember. And I'm ready. See you all tomorrow." I grabbed James's hand and walked out of the cabin.

"So we now have a solid plan," Edward said, from behind us. "I like that."

"We're lucky that we were able to come up with one so quickly," Percy said. "That usually doesn't happen."

"I don't think we'll be sticking around for training tomorrow," Annabeth continued. "We kind of have to get back to camp early."

"We're leaving in the morning," Percy said. "So we'll say bye now."

"Alright," I said. "I'll IM you guys once we get back to Forks and transfer, 'kay?"

"Sounds good," Percy said, hugging me goodbye. "Stay safe, okay?"

"I will," I conceded, rolling my eyes. "Bye, Annabeth." I hugged her too.

"Bye, guys," Bella said. Edward echoed her, and then Percy and Annabeth disappeared into the darkness.

"I wanna sleep," I said. "It's too dark to do anything."

"Or do…_some_thing," James whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, gods," Edward groaned. "Don't talk to us about that."

"Sorry," I said, quite pleasantly. "Just ignore us."

Bella smiled. "Go have fun. See you tomorrow!" And then they disappeared into the dark as well.

"I wish we were sixteen already," James said wistfully, taking my hand as we walked back to our temporary cabin here.

"Then Chiron would just make it eighteen," I said.

"But Annabeth and Percy were sixteen!"

"We're not Annabeth and Percy. But we can at least beg, can't we?"

"Oh, I intend to beg. And succeed."

I giggled. "Can't wait to see that."

"You wanna see my begging right now?" James wiggled his eyebrows again.

"Oh, shut up. I'm sleepy."

"I know you are, little girl. I can read your mind, remember?"

"Haha," I said, unlocking the door to our cabin. "Very funny."

"So do you have a lesson plan or something, for teaching tomorrow?"  
I shook my head. "I'm just gonna do what feels right. The Cullens will be joining, anyway, and if the stuff is too complicated for them, there's no point in making a lesson plan."

"Good point. Are you _sure_ you're too sleepy to have a little fun?"

"What would we do for fun?" I questioned.

"Oh, I'm sure I can think of a lot of things…"

I slapped his shoulder lightly, laughing. "James!"

"What?" he said, mischievous. "I'm just theorizing."

"One-track mind," I muttered. "You should sleep too. You don't want to be sleepy tomorrow morning."

"Of course, mother. I swear, you are going to make the best mom in the entire world. You command people around like nobody's business."

I scowled at him. "Now the only problem is living long enough, isn't it?"

"Speaking of that, how do we transfer classes?"

I shrugged. "Make Edward go up to Ms. Cope, charm her into switching our classes around, and keeping us with identical schedules?"  
James laughed. "That sounds like it'll work."

"I swear, that woman's a cougar. She needs help."

"Don't we know it," James muttered. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed me around the waist, planting a kiss on my mouth.

"James!" I laughed.

He grinned. "Had to do that. Are you still too sleepy?"

"My sleep is more important," I joked, turning my back to him to unstrap my dagger from my forearm.

He was silent for a second.

I continued to unstrap my dagger.

"Really?" His breathy whisper shocked me, and I whirled around.

He was standing right in front of me, leaning forward so I had to lean backwards.

_Oh, James. You always find a way, don't you?_

"So is sleep still more important?" he asked, his hand tracing small lines across my back, pushing me closer to him.

I nodded stupidly. What was more important again?

"Maybe I need to convince you differently," he said, ducking his head to place a small trail of kisses up my neck. I shivered under his touch.

"Convinced yet?" he murmured, his breath hot on my ear.

I shook my head. I didn't want it to stop. Funny how even the smallest of kisses can reduce one of the greatest warriors to mush.

"Smallest kisses, huh?" Apparently he heard my thought, because a second later, his mouth completely covered mine.

I stifled a moan as he gently took my bottom lip between his and sucked on it. A second later, his tongue was demanding entrance into my mouth, which I gladly granted.

His tongue kept me busy with long, languid strokes, exploring every inch of my mouth. So busy, in fact, that I didn't notice his hands moving from the small of my back to the bit of skin that my shirt exposed.

I'm pretty sure I broke out in goosebumps, which was silly. He didn't move his hands from there, just circling my skin and creating more goosebumps.

Ugh. He knew what he was doing to me.

_Well, screw you, _I thought, not really meaning it, since his tongue was very nicely keeping my mouth occupied.

_Would you like to_? He answered back, his hands creeping a little higher.

_You know I would_.

Where the fuck did that come from? Oh well, I didn't care, since all it made James do was just kiss me harder.

As his wonderful hands moved higher and higher, an unfamiliar feeling began building itself in my stomach, and I felt a little wetness between my legs.

_Shit, am I getting aroused?_ I thought, too late to control it.

Well, if he heard, what-the fuck-ever. I wrapped myself around him, my fingers threading themselves through his hair.

He groaned and thrust his hips into mine. I felt something hard poking my thigh, and I knew what it was.

I loved the effect I had on him.

And then the door opened. "Hey, guys, do you know—" Bella's voice said. "Oh, shit!" she yelled.

James and I broke apart at the speed of light.

"Oh, um, hey," James said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry," Bella said, giggling. "I'll just…um…go." She ran out of our cabin, slamming the door behind her.

"Well," I said, breaking the silence.

"That was awkward."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"So is sleep still more important?" he asked, a devilish grin on his face.

"No, but I really do need to sleep," I said, kissing him lightly.

"Do we have a time machine anywhere?" James asked.

"No, why?" I said, confused.

He gestured to the bulge at the front of his pants.

"Right," I snickered. "Think of a hairy old harpy. That should help."

He shook his head at me. "I want a time machine more."

I laughed. "Two years, James. You'll make it."

"You're not making it any easier," he grumbled.

"I know," I giggled, climbing into the bed and snuggling up to him.

James sighed. "You're evil, but I still love you. G'nite."

"Love you too," I murmured, falling asleep in the cocoon of his arms.

"Aria…"

"_Aria…"_

"ARIA!"

"Hm?" I rolled over in the bed, jerked awake by the incessant name calling.

"Get up, or I'm going to jump on you!"

I sat upright with a bolt. James was grinning at me from the opposite side of the bed.

"Dang it, I was hoping to jump you."

"Screw you," I said, lying back down.

"No, you really need to get up. You're training today, remember?"

I groaned and sat up again. "Goddamnit, I nearly did forget. Five more minutes?"

"You're willing to spend five minutes with me tickling you?"

"Jerk," I grumbled, climbing out of bed.

James grinned. "You know you love me."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even know why." But it was true. I loved my silly little boyfriend, no matter how annoying he could be at times. Yes, James, I know you're listening. Yes, you are annoying.

He snorted from behind me. "I'm not _that_ annoying!"

"No, you're annoying enough to make me keep loving you," I said, pecking his cheek and running to the bathroom. I heard him laughing behind me.

Fifteen minutes later, both of us were at the dining hall, eating breakfast. Correction: I was _eating_ my breakfast, James was _inhaling_ it.

"Do you never get tired of eating?" I asked.

"Nope." He shook his head. "I'm a guy. I'm always hungry."

"True that," Edward said, as he and Bella joined us. "But for a different meal."

"Don't tell me that's a sexual innuendo," Emmett said, entering the dining room. "Our little Eddie can't have grown up so fast, can he?"

I caught Bella's eye, and she burst into giggles. I frowned, seeing that she was recalling what she saw yesterday between me and James.

James nudged me, smiling evilly.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked Bella.

"Nothing, nothing," she said, turning to me. I made a face.

"What is it, Aria?" Rose asked. "What's got her laughing so hard?"

"I think I know," Alice said, appearing on the spot. She winced. "Oh dear. That is an odd visual."

"Shut up, Alice," I groaned. The Cullen population did _not_ need to know about that.

"Alright, alright, I won't tell," Alice said, taking her own seat.

"I'll just get it out of you then," Edward said.

"Too late," Jasper replied. "She's blocking you."

Edward cursed under his breath. "Damned blockers."

I laughed. "Why are you all even here, if you don't even eat human food?"

Edward gestured to Bella. "She does need to eat."

I was about to go back to eating my food when a little voice squealed my name.

"Aria!" A little body came flying through the air at me, nearly tackling me to the ground. As it was, I had to lean back to brace myself.

"Ariel," I said, slightly breathless from having the wind knocked out of me. "Sweetie, you nearly killed me!"  
"Don't be silly, I can't do that. No one can," she said, still hugging me.

James chuckled. "She's right."

"Are you teaching today?" Ariel demanded, her bright blue eyes demanding an answer. "Can I watch?"

I sighed. "I think it'll be dangerous—"

"Come on, Aria, let her!" Emmett urged. "She's never too young to be exposed to self defense."

I scowled at him. "You're a huge help, thank you."

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE—" A high pitched voice said in my ear.

"Alright, alright!" I conceded. "You can watch. Just don't yell in my ear."

"Yay!" Ariel said, and plopped herself down in my lap. "Good morning, Cullens."

Edward arched an eyebrow, but this wasn't unusual behavior for Ariel. For a four year old, she remembered everyone – and everything.

"Did you eat?" I asked her.

She nodded. "But that whipped cream is looking awful good…" She trailed off, looking wistfully at my plate.

I laughed. "Take it, sweetie. I don't want it anyway."

"Thanks!"

I laughed again as she dug in to my plate. I was finished eating, anyways.

"So when do you start training?" Jasper asked.

"As soon as breakfast is over," I said. "A lot of people are supposed to show up, so you guys might have to take a backseat until I get them situated first."

"Can we try fighting them?" Emmett asked.

I shook my head. "Not all of them are that experienced."

"Can we try fighting you?" he tried again.

I smiled. "Emmett, I highly doubt you'll beat me."

"Is that a _challenge_?" he demanded.

I shrugged. "Do you want it to be?"

James chuckled. "This should be good."

"Alright, Aria, I challenge you to a fight. No weapons. Just you and me."

"Emmett, that isn't fair!" Rosalie protested.

"No, it's fine," I said. "This actually might be interesting."

Edward caught my eye. "You're totally going to kick his ass, aren't you?"

"Not if I can help it!" Emmett retaliated.

"Yes, not if you can help it," I said absentmindedly, wiping a bit of whipped cream from Ariel's chin.

"She's gonna beat you," Ariel said happily, getting whipped cream all over her face again. "She's never been beaten before. Not even by Percy."

James laughed, remembering something. "Remember when I tried to fight you?"

"You tried to fight her?" Alice's eyes were as big as saucers.

"Yes, in a fit of irrational thinking, I did," he said wryly. "I ended up in the medical ward with a dislocated shoulder and a broken leg."

"I apologized, didn't I?" I defended myself, as Alice gasped.

Jasper laughed. "Emmett, you've really put yourself in this one."

"I intend on beating you," Emmett told me.

I smirked. "Not if I can help it," I echoed his words.

There was a sudden sound of a shield being thrown against the floor, and I knew that was my cue to go to the training arena.

"We should go," James said, hearing the shield as well. "The campers will be out soon."

"Can't wait to see Aria beat Emmett," Ariel muttered into my hair as I picked her up.

I laughed.

A couple minutes later, the Cullens, James, and I, had all migrated to the training arena. Demigods began trickling in from their breakfast, and soon, there was a huge clump of them clustered in the center.

James raised an eyebrow at me. _This is a hell of a lot more people than usual._

He was right. Training sessions, even at our camp, weren't this big.

_It's probably cause they heard it was being taught by you, _James theorized.

If that was the case, I was really flattered. I didn't know I was _that_ renowned.

"Alright," I said, stepping forward. The small chatter that had been going on ceased. "So, you're all here to learn how to fight with a sword, as opposed to a gladius and shield."

There was a murmur of assent.

"Did everyone bring their own weapons?"  
Another dull murmur of assent.

"Fantastic," I said briskly. "We're going to start out with—"

"Hang on, Aria," Emmett interrupted me, from stands where his entire family was sitting. "What about that challenge?"

"Not now, Emmett," I hissed. The last thing I wanted to do was fight a vampire in front of a bunch of demigods. Edward's mouth curled up into a grin when he read my thought. I scowled.

"What challenge?" a curious demigod from the cluster asked.

"Nothing," I said.

At the same time, Emmett revealed, "I challenged her to a fight."

"Then what are you waiting for?" another kid said. "Fight!"  
"Emmett," I groaned, exasperated. "Look what you did!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" the half bloods began chanting.

"Alright, quiet down," I said. "I won't be fighting him now."

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fi—"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. "Alright! I'll fight him! Does that make you all happy?"

The crowd cheered. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll fight on one condition," I said, seeing the opportunity to turn this into a learning experience. "If you all can follow every move I'm making and repeat it to me later, I'll say that you've passed my little course."

"We'll do it!" someone yelled out. "Now fight!"

The crowd started chanting again, but I held up my hand to silence them.

"Go sit in the stands," I commanded. They shuffled themselves and then sat down, looking very eager.

"You're going down, Aria," Emmett said, with a crooked grin.

"Whatever," I said breezily. "Here are the rules. First to step out of the boundaries of the arena loses. Deal?"

"Why can't we just say first to pass out loses?" Emmett asked.

"Because my wing is still injured, if I pass out, it will probably be because of that and not because of you," I countered.

"Go get him," James whispered to me. "I'll call."

Emmett readied himself into a fighting stance used for hand combat, but I just stayed standing. I knew the only way to beat Emmett was with my agility, because I could change direction faster than he could.

"Three," James said. "Two….and…._One!_"

Before even watching Emmett moved, I launched into the air, flung myself over, and landed on my feet twenty feet away from where I'd started.

Emmett was standing where I'd just been, looking confused. I smirked to myself. He was really very easy to predict, since his fighting style was so much like that of a bear. I knew he wouldn't try any complicated moves, just try to force me out of the circle. This fight could be very easy.

If I could get close enough to the edge and wait for him to charge, he wouldn't have enough time to slow his momentum before he went out of bounds. And the moment he crossed that line, he lost.

As predicted, he charged again, moving so fast that I felt him rush by me as I threw myself back into the air. I twisted around a bit, trying to find a good place to land, and finally landed with bended knees a foot away from where I'd originally started at the beginning of the fight.

I was aware of the demigods catcalling and cheering, but I'd tuned it out a while ago.

Emmett, once again, was left standing there, confused. Like I said, his style was very easy to predict.

I danced closer to the edge of the circle, darting around here and there. Emmett shadowed my movements, but did not shorten the distance between us just yet.

When I was about an inch from the edge, I stopped all movement and stood stock-still. When Emmett made no move to charge, I smiled and held my hands up.

"Come get me," I taunted. "I'm not moving."

A second later, the blur of his movement came hurtling towards me, and I jumped up once more. I twisted away, barely being missed by Emmett's arms.

Five milliseconds till he was out of bounds.

"Out!" James crowed. "He's out!"

Again, Emmett stood just a little bit outside the boundaries of the arena, looking royally confused.

"Well, it seems that you couldn't help it, could you?" I told him.

"Now _that_," Alice started. "Was pretty cool."

"That's not fair!" Emmett complained.

"How?" I demanded. "I could have easily pulled the Mist over your eyes and made you believe that there were four Arias running around here."

"I kind of wished you'd done that, it would've been really interesting," a demigod in the front row of the bleachers said.

I made a face. "I fight fair. At least I can't read their minds, right?"

"Ugh, even when you fight fair, you beat me," Emmett complained.

I smiled. Who said I was beatable, again?

_Well, whoever did, you've proven them wrong,_ James thought at me.

I smiled to myself and began to teach the demigods.

**A/N: Review, please! Ifs you haven't checked out my story **_**The Survivor**_** yet, please do so! Leave me a little birthday present :) And also, if anyone wants the James POV of the kiss, say so in your review and I'll PM it to you. If you're an anon reviwer, put your email username, a couple words, and then the domain name. **

**And, I'm not updating until I get at least seven or eight reviews. Happy reading! :) **


	27. More Planning

**Chapter 28**

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :) Heads up, this is the last relatively calm chapter. Also, can we get to 160 reviews here? Pretty please? **

**Edward POV **

Emmett was _very_ pissed off that he'd lost to Aria. Scratch that: pissed off is an understatement. _Raging mad_ would be a better description.

_I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE BEAT ME_! he screamed in his mind.

"Believe it, bro," I said out loud. "She did."

"Ugh," Emmett huffed. "I can't believe it."

"I can," Alice said. "I saw it beforehand."

"And you didn't feel like telling me?" Emmett demanded. "What a nice sister you are."

Alice stuck her tiny tongue out at him. "It was fun to see her beat you like that. Strength doesn't always win."

"Yeah, but it wins against—"

"Cullens!" Aria called out from the middle of the arena. "Unless you'd like to step outside, quiet down!"

Alice and Emmett stopped their bickering. Esme grinned at Aria, one mother-figure to another.

"That's better," Aria said approvingly. "Now keep your mouths _shut_."

A ripple of laughter passed through the demigods, and James winked at me.

_Get used to that,_ he thought at me. _It happens a lot_. But there was a teasing undertone to his voice.

Throughout the time of about two hours, Aria demonstrated how to fight with both a sword and freehanded.

Halfway through the lesson, she asked her students if they would be willing to have a practice fight with me and my family, but they all vehemently denied.

"It would be unfair," one protested. "I mean, we're not as fast as you, and most of us don't have wings."

Aria nodded. "Alright. Let's continue, then."

After her lesson was over, she and James made their way up to where we were sitting.

"Sorry, Emmett," Aria said, grinning. "But you really did bring it on yourself."

"Hmph," Emmett scoffed.

"Great job," Rosalie said, smiling. "It's been a while since anyone beat him."

"Only because he'll never fight with me," I interjected. "Otherwise, he'd be beaten all the time."

"You cheat!" Emmett protested. "You read my mind!"  
"Well, even if he didn't," Aria said. "You'd be pretty easy to beat. You are _so_ predictable."

Carlisle chuckled. "Thank you for finally showing him that strength doesn't always win, Aria."

She grinned. "My pleasure."

"So," James said, his arm firmly around Aria's waist – which I thought was adorable. "Are you guys ready to head back to Forks?"

Esme nodded. "Though…Aria…you should shower, first."

"Oh, she doesn't need to," James laughed.

"Why?" Bella asked. "Don't all demigods need to?"

James laughed again. "She barely exerted herself today. This was child's play for her."

"Speaking of children, where's Ariel?" Bella asked.

"Back with Jason and Reyna. I sent her off as soon as the fight was over," Aria said. "She shouldn't be watching training sessions. She's way too young."

"So what's the plan when we get back?" Jasper questioned.

"Well, first, we have to fill you in on everything that went on at the Strat Meeting," James said.

"And then we make our own plan," Aria finished. "We have to get to work right away, so we need to leave right now."

"I'll go get Mrs. O'Leary," James said, disappearing in a flash.

"You guys, come with me," Aria commanded, gesturing for us to follow her.

"Just out of curiosity, how did you evade Emmett like that?" Alice asked.

Aria smiled. "Like I said, he's predictable."

"No, I mean, how did you just _throw_ yourself into the air like that?" she clarified.

"Oh. Um, it's one of the advantages of being a child with wings. It's easier to stay in the air, and I have the power to launch myself there."

"How long did it take you to learn how to do that?" Rose asked.

"A day," Aria said.

I whistled. "That's pretty fast, even for you."

"Yeah, Percy always said that I could go to the Olympics if I wasn't so busy trying not to get myself killed," she joked.

James appeared before us, towing the large hellhound that was Mrs. O'Leary. Honestly, if I wasn't a vampire, I would have to be afraid for my life around that thing.

"Alright, everyone on," James said, helping Rosalie, Alice, and Esme onto Mrs. O'Leary's back.

Within a couple seconds, everyone was on, and Mrs. O'Leary was bounding for the shadows. I braced myself as we hit the cold air, and my arms tightened around Bella.

She patted the back of my hand, assuring me that she was okay. A second later, the lightness and warmth hit us again, and Mrs. O'Leary came to a flying stop.

Aria leaped off of her back, James following her. The hellhound relaxed onto her haunches, allowing the rest of us to slip off.

James patted her muzzle. "You can go now, girl. See you later."

Mrs. O'Leary licked his face once, then Aria, and then disappeared again.

"Well," Aria said. "Now we need to decide what to do. Can we go inside?"

I watched as the rest of my family – including the two new additions – entered the house. It seemed like Aria and James had been a part of us forever; they fit in so well with us.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, looking up at me with concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," I said, smiling. "Just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

I pouted. "No, that isn't fair. Tell me what you were laughing about this morning."

Bella laughed. "I can't. Aria would know I told and she'd never let me forget it!"

I nuzzled into her warm neck with my nose. "You think I'd let you forget, either?"

"That isn't fair, Edward," she said, and I could hear the pout in her voice. "You can't do that to me."

"Watch me," I whispered, leaning forward to capture her lips with mine.

"Alright, you two, quit dry humping and get in here!" Emmett's voice shattered our peaceful kiss, and Bella immediately turned a very attractive shade of red.

"Don't worry, love," I chuckled. "You should expect it by now."

We walked inside the house and took seats in the living room, where the rest of the family was already assembled.

"So," Carlisle said. "What are our goals here?"

I saw Aria and James exchange a brief look.

"Well," Aria started. "We need to figure out if Sean was lying or not. Then we need to see if Banner _is_ the monster or just a facet. And then we need to figure out who's running the whole operation."

"That sounds pretty easy," Emmett said.

James chuckled. "Your mental," he said simply. "It's going to be one of the hardest things you've ever done."

"Before you try to object, Emmett, let us finish," Aria interrupted. "Anyway, we discussed this at the strat meeting last night – that James and I are going to transfer into Edward's and Bella's biology class. That way, we can be near enough to Banner to try to fish out details, but Edward's with us for extra protection."

"Can we transfer there too?" Alice asked.

Carlisle shook his head. "Wouldn't it create a little bit of suspicion if all of you transferred at once?"  
Aria nodded. "Exactly. So only James and I will be moving classes."

"To figure out if Sean was faking or not, we kind of have a triple-threat plan," James said, picking up from where Aria left off. "Aria and I can both read his mind, and so can Edward."

"But if you couldn't pick up if he was lying the first time, he must be pretty good at blocking," Rosalie pointed out.

Aria nodded. "You're right. That's where Alice and Jasper come in. Jasper can sense his mood when he's talking to us, and Alice can see ahead to tell what he's gonna react like."

"So the triple threat of mind reading, mood reading, plus future seeing?" Jasper confirmed.

James nodded. "In a nutshell, yes."

"So is that all the plan consists of?" Carlisle questioned.

Aria threw James a look.

"That's it," he said firmly, more to Aria than to the rest of us.

This time, she glared at him. He glared right back, never breaking the eye contact between them. It was quite obvious that they were having a private, personal, fight, and I did my best not to pick up on their thoughts. It wasn't actually that difficult, since both their minds were racing at the speed of light, and the ADHD factor just threw in a huge mess of a headache.

"Guys, quit pulling an Alice-and-Edward," Emmett sighed. "And just tell us what you're thinking."

"Not happening," James said aloud.

"We'll see," Aria said. She turned to face the rest of us. "Jason had the idea of me just walking into Banner's room, pulling out a sword, and seeing what happened, but—"

"There's no way in hell we'd let you do that," Rosalie completed, looking furious.

"Thank you!" James exclaimed. "Finally, someone understands me!"  
"Oh, come on," Aria protested, rolling her eyes. "Not you, too?"

"Sorry, sweetie," Rose said. "I just don't like the idea."

"It'll only be after my wing heals!" she countered. "It's not like I'd do it while I was injured! Besides, I'll have backup with me – I can even make Percy and Annabeth come here!"

"Still not good enough," Rose said, with her arms folded across her chest.

"Hmph," Aria huffed angrily. "You all are way too protective of me."

"Remind me again where we'd be if I _wasn't_ protective of you?" James shot back.

She rolled her eyes. "In the deepest pits of Tartarus. I _know_."

James grinned.

"So do we call the school now and arrange for it?" Esme questioned.

"Go ahead," Aria told her.

Esme picked up the phone and dialed the school's number. It rang three times before being picked up.

"_Hello?_" the gravelly voice of the school secretary, Ms. Cope, came through the phone.

"Hi, this is Esme Cullen, legal guardian of Aria and James," Esme said.

"_Hm…hang on, I thought the Newtons were their legal guardians?"_

Esme looked up at Aria, panic etched on her face. Aria rolled her eyes, snapped her fingers once, and nodded.

"No, I think you're mistaken," Esme said, looking at Aria for confirmation. She nodded again.

"_Oh, I do seem to be. My bad. So, why were you calling?_"

"I'd like for Aria and James to be moved into Mr. Banner's Junior Biology class."

"_But they're only freshman!_"

"I think you'll find that their grades are highly advanced, and I'd like for them to be put in an advanced class." Esme's strict tone seemed to really shock Mrs. Cope.

"_Alright… tell them to come get their schedules in the morning."_

"Thank you, Mrs. Cope. Have a nice day." Esme hung up.

"What was the finger snapping thing?" Bella asked.

"Mist," James said. I couldn't derive any meaning out of that word, but Bella apparently could. She nodded.

Aria sighed. "It all starts tomorrow, I guess. I can't wait."

**A/N: Please go read my new story, **_**The Survivor**_**, if you haven't yet. Thanks! :)**

**2/10/13: I am not updating until I get at least up to one hundred sixty reviews. Please, guys? School's getting a little busier now, and I need to know if its worth it to continue this story or not. **


	28. Facing the Music

**Chapter 29**

**A/N: Hey. Wassup, my homies? Okay, I just spent the weekend in Berkeley. Don't blame me. **

** Hope you like this…and please review. I was a bit tentative about writing this chapter. Don't forget to go read The Survivor!**

**Aria POV**

I woke up the next morning with a pit of despair lodged directly in my stomach.

"You'll be fine," James consoled me. "We can do this." He cupped my cheek and planted a small kiss there.

I leaned into his touch. "I'm scared."

"There's no need to be. We've got Edward, plus Alice and Jasper in the classroom next door. You know how capable they all are."

I nodded, but the dark lump still ate away at my insides.

I couldn't eat anything at breakfast, no matter how much Esme and Rosalie insisted.

"You'll need your energy," Esme said, in one last-ditch effort.

James ran his hand over my shoulder. "She won't eat now," he said in my defense. "I'll make sure she does at lunch."

"I will, too," Rosalie said, with a fierce determination. I smiled half-heartedly at her, mentally reminding myself to stay out of her way at lunch time.

Throughout the ride to school, James kept his hand on mine. I was grateful for that – his thoughts of comfort and safety were a million times stronger when he was touching me.

Multiple times, Bella swiveled around in the front seat to face me and took my other hand. I knew what she was thinking. She was scared, too. But she had faith in Edward; she was confident that he would be able to protect all of us should the need arise.

I tried to draw some comfort from that.

I knew I was being stupid – I had backed this idea up, after all. But it was hard not to be nervous, drawing from my past experiences with monster teachers.

James knew this. He knew all about these encounters, and though he couldn't relate, he was doing the best he could to console.

Those memories had been plaguing me since we'd decided on this plan. Each time it drifted to the surface of my thoughts, I pushed it down again. But I knew I was fighting a losing battle.

I pitied the humans, sometimes. They couldn't have such awesome lives like me.

Sarcasm fully intended.

The first four classes of the day flew by like a Pegasus that was high on caffeine.

You know, the way that time flies when you just want it to stand still? Exactly like that.

*O*

"Aria, you _have_ to eat something," Rose said, looking worried.

I shook my head. I just knew that I would throw up anything that even dared to enter my mouth.

"Sweetie, if you don't eat, I'm going to force feed you," James whispered into my ear.

I glared up at him, but he just smiled at me mischievously. Angrily, I grabbed the slice of pizza that he was eating and took a bite.

I chewed it forcefully, as if taking out all of my frustration on that little bite of pizza.

"Happy?" I growled.

"Eat more," Bella said. She looked just as worried as Rose. "You'll need it."

"Can I eat later?" I pleaded. "Once Biology is over, I'll feel good enough to eat."

_That is, if we all don't die during the class,_ I thought morosely.

James's hand squeezed my knee, and I didn't have to look at him to know that he didn't like that last thought.

_Don't think like that_, he admonished.

I turned away from him, hiding my dark, despondent thoughts.

_Don't do that,_ he pleaded. _Don't shut me out_.

I felt his ankle rub against mine under the table, and he pushed the leg of my jeans up until our bare skin was touching.

I couldn't hide anything like this, when he was touching me, skin to skin. I couldn't.

Just like I couldn't muster enough courage to eat.

Just like I couldn't fight the memories of the last time I was in a classroom with a teacher.

_You're not in the past,_ he told me. _You're here. Those classrooms have nothing to do with the one you're going to go to right now_.

I shuddered, doing my best to hide it from the rest of the Cullens.

_You're with me, not alone in the human world. You're strong. You can do this_.

"Aria?" Alice's voice pierced the reverie that James's thoughts had sent me into.

"Don't disturb her," Edward said. "They're communicating."

I sent a silent thought of gratitude towards him before sinking back into the world that had no monsters.

_Just a little bit longer…_

The bell rang, ending my period of respite and telling me it was time to face the monster – quite literally.

"Come on, let's go," Bella said, touching my shoulder softly.

_We can do this._ His ever-lasting voice of comfort once more wrapped me in that cocoon of safety.

I clutched his hand as we walked down the hallway, so much that I think I stopped his circulation.

The door creaking open sounded like the Furies of Hades screeching their worst insults at me.

I took a deep breath. _I can do this_.

The walk towards Mr. Banner felt like a march towards hell.

"Ah, James and Aria, is it?" he asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. I fought the urge to simply finish him off right then and there.

"Yes, sir," James said, squeezing my hand. "We're the advanced students."

He nodded, fixing each of us with his glare once. "Very well. Go take a seat."

James tugged me along the aisle of the classroom, depositing me in one of the only two empty seats left in the classroom. Bella and Edward sat right in front of us, providing that crucial line of defense.

As Mr. Banner started the class, James once again linked his ankle with mine. Comforting thoughts began to flood my brain, and I relaxed slightly from my tense position.

_Start reading his thoughts,_ James urged me. I nodded minutely.

Focusing on the back of Mr. Banner's head, I willed myself to dive into his brain.

And was met with a mental block.

_What the hell?_

_James, there's a mental block,_ I thought. _What do I do?_

_Tell Edward,_ he responded. _See if it's blocking him out too._

I nod again.

_EDWARD! EDWARD! _I scream in my mind. _If you can hear me, move your head a centimeter to the left_.

The head of bronze hair in front of me moves barely a centimeter to the left.

_Great. I can't read Banner's thoughts,_ I thought at him. _There's some sort of mental block. See if you can. Move your head back to the right if you can._

I waited a minute, knowing that it will take Edward some time to sort through all the human voices filtering through his brain.

Another minute, and he still hasn't moved his head.

_You can't?_ I thought. Edward turned his head once to the left, and then once to the right. To the casual observer, he would just be thinking.

To me, this is a sign of negation. Neither of us can penetrate this mental shield right now.

So what on earth is causing it?

_Might be someone else protecting him,_ James theorized.

I swooped in on Banner's mind again, hoping to crack some of defenses. Again, I was hit with the hard wall of thought-blocking, a pure frustration. To me, there were no cracks in this shield. It was absolutely impossible to get through.

Damnit. What type of technique is he using?

_Come on, Banner, what the hell is going on,_ I thought, out of pure frustration. What surprises me is that Mr. Banner turned around, looked me straight in the eye, and shook his head.

What.

I think he might have noticed that I was trying to probe his mind.

_Damnit,_ James thought. _Now what?_

_Now we wait, and we have to have another strategizing session. Preferably with Annabeth and Percy,_ I responded.

_Iris Message?_ he asked.

_ You know it,_ I answered.

So right now, there was nothing for me to do. I didn't know where the goddamned shield was coming from, I couldn't read Banner's mind, and neither could Edward.

Another strategizing session _clearly _needed to happen.

How could a monster perform a mental mind block? I ran through the list of mind blocks in my head (yes, I get the irony), trying to figure out which one he might use.

Seeing as he was either a monster or the helper, none of the ones that apply to demigods would work.

The only other options are methods that apply to Gods…and surely no one would shield Banner.

Right?

I pondered this new piece of information, wondering if someone really does still hold a grudge against us after the last Giant War.

Gaea is defeated. None of her minions will retaliate, unless they have a death wish.

So who else could be shielding Banner's mind?

I ran through the list again, going through the book as if turning pages. None of the methods could possibly apply to a monster alone – they simply do not possess the powers to block a demigod – or a vampire, for that matter. Their only option would be to run other things through their heads – like singing Disney songs, or reciting thing sin other languages. Since none of this is happening in Banner's head, I knew that was not the case. I couldn't even get a read into what was happening there, let alone any distractions.

And to top it all off, he seemed to be able to sense that I was trying to probe him. Either me or Edward, that is. And he wouldn't be able to sense Edward – his tactics aren't invading, like a demigod's are.

So that leaves…one option.

A god is shielding Banner. Some traitorous heavenly being has decided to wreak havoc on us barely four months after the last war. Needless to say, I will be having a very serious conversation with my father soon.

And with Chiron. This needs to be discussed, and I couldn't rely on the fact that I'd gotten every _single_ mind-blocking technique. I might have missed some – even a demigod can.

I fidgeted subconsciously in my seat, not really aware of my movements until James placed a calming hand on my knee to still me.

_I know you think it must be a God,_ he thought. _But there might be another answer. We'll have to ask._

_I know_, I thought back. _But we really have no idea right now. And besides that, I'm pretty sure there is no other option_.

_Hey, you think if we make him drunk his defenses will go down?_ James relayed his brilliant idea to me.

I pondered it. _I don't know. Is it worth a shot?_

_It'll make every human in the room drunk also, but yeah, it's worth a shot_, he responded.

_Tell Edward. Make sure he knows what's going to happen to Bella, _I warned. I wouldn't want Bella to become all tipsy and Edward to freak the fuck out. 'Cause that would be just unfortunate.

I sensed James communicating with Edward, and then Edward nodding his head in agreement.

Let the drunkenness begin.

The absurdity of the plan struck me. It was thought of on the spot, would make several humans get shit-faced, and yet, we were going through with it.

This is when the demigods start to get desperate.

I felt James concentrate, and I curled my ankle around his to give him a little bit more energy. I couldn't transfer much with the minimal skin contact, but I doubt Banner would be thrilled if I suddenly threw myself on my boyfriend in the middle of the class.

The stench of grapes began to permeate the air. It was sour, but sweet, at the same time.

James closed his eyes and flexed his arms back, making the smell even stronger.

The people a couple rows in front of us began to sway. It was working. Slowly, the entire class was put under the spell, leaving only Banner to be drowned in drunkenness.

Slowly, slowly, I felt his mind become overtaken with the haziness. His mental block was slipping away, inch by inch.

_Yes, _I thought triumphantly. _I can hear a bit_.

James squeezed my hand encouragingly.

I focused harder on probing his mind, forcing the shield away bit by bit. It was so fucking slow.

Finally, I got the first coherent thought through.

_I know you're there, Aria. And reading my mind isn't going to get you _anywhere.

I nearly fell off of my chair from shock.

**A/N: Ooo, a cliffie. If y'all review, I just might update faster! Also, if you want Mr. Banner's POV on this chapter, make sure to mention that in a review! :)Hugs **

**Also, to Katie, my official favorite Anon reviewer: SEE. I UPDATED. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? ;D**

**Also, I've created a Twitter account for this story: ariapyrasyria. Follow me if you want to know when I'll update and such!**


	29. Sorry, What?

**Chapter 30**

**A/N: Hi, guys. This is chapter 30. I dunno what to say past this. :D Okay, please review. And also, follow me on twitter if you want to know when I'll update and such. I post there before I post here :P **

**Edward POV**

_EDWARD! EDWARD!_ Aria screamed from behind me. I nearly flinched at the intensity – or, mind-volume – of her yell. _If you can hear me, move your head a centimeter to the left_.

I moved my head a minute amount to the left.

_Great. I can't read Banner's thoughts_, Aria said. _There's some sort of mental block. See if you can. Move your head back to the right if you can._

Oh, lord. Banner's thoughts are blocked. Perfect. I tried to filter out his mental voice from the twenty-odd others invading my mind, but I couldn't. Unlike Aria, I couldn't read minds by choice. It was only thoughts pouring into my head at all times.

I didn't move my head back, so I hoped that Aria got the message that I couldn't read his mind either.

_You can't_? She asked for confirmation. Slowly, I shook my head, praying that she understood.

She did. She and James began theorizing immediately as to what was blocking his mind and why.

Honestly, their theories were quite interesting. Gods shielding him? Which God in their right mind would shield Aria's enemy? I mean, have they _seen _her when she's angry? Even I was afraid for my immortal life then.

I scribbled quickly on a sheet of paper _'Aria & James can't pick up his thoughts. 'nother plan session tonight'_ and passed it to Bella. She read it quickly, nodded, and began to fold it up.

I took it back from her. I didn't want someone to find the evidence of that note. Then, surely, they would understand the situation. So I began shredding it to pieces in my hand, and dropped it on the floor in miniscule amounts.

Bella shook her head at my antics, like I was some sort of five-year-old kid. In a fit of childishness, I stuck my tongue back out at her. And then smirked. She just rolled her eyes.

Ah, my Bella.

Class passed by quickly after that, but I could hear Aria and James running theories back and forth until it became too much to keep up with their ADHD minds. The bell rang, and the students immediately raced to their freedom – only two more classes till the end of the day.

"Aria, James, could you two come here please?" Mr. Banner asked.

I froze momentarily, and so did Bella. I turned around to look at Aria and James and mouthed _We'll wait_. Aria nodded.

James took her hand and led her up to the desk. Mr. Banner looked at Bella and I uncomfortably for a second, but I guess he got the message that we weren't going anywhere.

"So, because you two are new to the class, I wanted to offer some help, in case you need it. I understand that Biology is a terribly difficult subject," Mr. Banner said.

"I think we're good, Mr. Banner," Aria said. "If we needed help, we'll ask for it. After all, not asking wouldn't get us _anywhere_, would it?"

That last part confused me. Why on earth would she say such a random thing like that? It was almost as if the words held a special meaning for both her and Mr. Banner, but I knew that was impossible.

I saw something odd flash through his eyes momentarily.

"Alright then," he said, his voice perfectly calm. "Let me know if you need help."

James nodded curtly before quite literally dragging Aria out of the room. I grabbed both of their bags as well as mine and hurried out, with Bella right behind me.

I found James and Aria standing a little ways down the hallway, both of them with their backs to us. They were having quite an intense conversation in Ancient Greek.

James was hissing at Aria, and she was defending herself.

"What's going on?" Bella asked. "What happened back there?"  
"Nothing," Aria said through clenched teeth. I frowned. That wasn't right. I tried to read her mind, but it was suddenly filled with fighting techniques. She was blocking me.

James tried to say something, but Aria glared at him until he shut his mouth altogether.

"We're going to be late," she muttered. She grabbed her bag from me.

"Thanks," James told me, taking his bag as well. They disappeared down the hallway, leaving Bella and I standing there, utterly confused.

Bella turned to face me. "What was that all about?"

I frowned. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

**A/N: Sorry guys, short chapter. Not much going on for Edward; it has to be done in Aria's POV. Sorry for updating so late. If you wanna know when I'll be updating and such, follow me on twitter – I post there. **

**Review! :D **


	30. New Plans

**Chapter 32**

**A/N: Hello, my beautiful and wonderful readers. Please review. Pretty please with sugar on top. There we go!**

**Aria POV**

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, _oh god_," I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

"Shh," James said, attempting to soothe me. "So Banner knows you can read his mind. Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes!" I cried out, the sound echoing of the bathroom walls. I flinched at the reverberating noise. "Well, he wasn't supposed to know. Now he does, and we need a new tactic completely."

"Which is why we are going to IM Percy tonight," James said, rubbing circles on my back. "We're going to find a new tactic. Now, why didn't you want to tell the Cullens again?"

"My battle," I muttered. "Not theirs. I want to kill Banner and then find out who he's working for."

"So we're keeping the Cullens out of this, then?" he asked.

"That's the idea," I said. "If we can get back up from Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter, we can set up our own mission base here without them knowing anything."

"Then they're pointless to us, in essence."

"Not really, we still need Edward's mind-reading skills and their extra fighting power."

"And you think they'll agree to being suddenly shut out?" James questioned.

I smacked the wall angrily. "This isn't their battle, damnit! They aren't demigods! This is _our_ war against whoever the hell wants us dead this time. Three months ago, we didn't even know vampires existed! There is absolutely no reason to start putting them in our wars."

"Okay, okay, calm down," James said, resuming drawing patterns on my back. "So what are we going to do today to get it started?"

"We have to go back to Camp," I said. "This isn't a conversation to have through a rainbow screen.

"You wanna wait until after school or just go now?"

"Go now, of course. Why the hell would I wait until school gets out?"

James laughed and kissed my forehead. "Greatest warrior in the twenty-first century doesn't even care about school. What type of message does that send to the future generations?"

I scoffed. "Might not be any more future generations if we don't get around to figuring out who the hell is fighting us this time."

James pushed the bathroom door open, holding it for me. "Tell the Cullens we're leaving or not?"

I shrugged. "Depends on where they are right now. What class does Edward have now?"

"I think it's near us. Why don't you just start thinking about him and see if he shows up?" James suggested.

"Alright," I agreed. _Edward,_ I thought. _Edward. Edward. Edward! EDWARD!_

"Jeezus, even I can hear you." James winced. I just grinned. Soon enough, the familiar head of bronze hair emerged from a nearby classroom.

"The hell, Aria? You trying to make my head go deaf?" he said.

"Aww, you're talking like me now," I gushed. "Anyway, James and I are going back to Camp for a while. Just thought we'd let you know now."

"Hang on, why?" Edward asked, his brow furrowing. "Did something happen?"

"We need to check in," I lied effortlessly. "It's been a while since we've been there."

"Three months, to be exact," James added.

Edward nodded. "Yeah. When're you gonna be back?"  
I shrugged. "I don't know, but I'll definitely call and let you know beforehand."

"Alright. I'll tell Carlisle and Esme, so don't worry about that. Fly safely." Edward hugged both me and James quickly and then disappeared back into his classroom.

"Let's go," James said, tugging me by the hand outside the school. "How're we getting there?"

"I don't know where Mrs. O'Leary is, so I guess its flying to the nearest airport and hopping on a cargo jet."

James groaned. "Come _on_, I hate planes."

"Hello, I'm the daughter of Zeus's very much hated brother. You're just his grandson." I smirked at James.

"Nearest airport, then," he said, kissing my lips softly. "Let's go."

*O*

"This is so uncomfortable," I complained.

"You were the one that wanted _this_ cargo jet," James reminded me. We were both sandwiched in between crates that held god-knows-what.

"Hey, it was the only one going anywhere remotely near Long Island Sound," I argued. This plane, was in fact going to go right over the Camp's location. When I could sense enough water around us for a safe landing, we'd planned to jump out of the escape hatch.

"Does Percy know we're coming?"

I nodded, but then remembered he couldn't see me. "Yeah, he knows. At least, he should. There's no other reason that the only other child of Poseidon would be near him."

"Oh right, your internal trackers."

"They're not trackers; we're just mentally aware of each other."

"Ah, the power of siblings of the Big Three."

" Go to sleep, James. I'll let you know when we need to jump."

*O*

I looked down at the expanse of water below me and felt a rush of joy.

_It's been too long, Dad._

"Alright, on my count," I told James, who was crouched down next to me. He grasped my hand as I began to count. "One…Two…THREE!"

We launched ourselves off of the plane and cannonballed into the water. I softened the impact as best as I could, given the height we were at.

Bubbles swirled all around me, and fish came closer, interested. I urged them to scatter.

James was mere feet away from me, floating just above where I was. His body was slowly drifting to the surface. I raced – well, paddled – my way over to him and pulled him up with me.

He gasped as his lungs took in a breath of air.

"That was awesome, but please give me an oxygen mask first."

"Sorry, hun," I said, smiling. "It's not that bad now."

"Just make the waves work for us," he grumbled, pulling me onto his back.

I smiled and kissed his neck. "Take us home, Dad."

Five minutes later, we were washed up on the shore of Long Island Beach – the isolated section. Percy was waiting for us there.

"Percy!" I said, and ran into his open arms. He hugged me fiercely for a second before letting go.

"So what do we owe this surprise visit to?" he asked.

"We need a new plan," I said. "I think this is another war, and we're going to nip it in the bud."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "But who's after us now?"

"We don't know yet," James said, shaking the water from his hair. "Her idea was to keep the Cullens out of this, and make this into a full two-camp operation."

"Like the last giant war?" Percy asked, his eyebrows near disappearing into his hair.

"Sort of, yes," I said. "Look, we really need to call a camp meeting to discuss this. Can we go inside now?"

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said. "I just thought, that after we knocked down Gaea, we'd be done with this type of stuff."

I laughed humorlessly. "We're demigods, Percy. We'll never be done with this shit."

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, again. Though I can promise quicker updates. Reviews do help, though *****wink wink*******

**I also posted a new one shot. Read and review, please!**


	31. Sleepy Time

**Chapter 33**

**A/N: I'm going to be doing more of Aria's POV now, instead of alternating as much. Though Edward will still be in there somewhere. Are there any other POVs you want me to throw in? **

**Aria POV**

Percy accompanied us to the Big House, where Chiron was waiting on the porch in his wheelchair.

"Aria, James," he said, smiling. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I wish the reason was more pleasant," James quipped.

The smile drifted off Chiron's face. "Of course. Come inside – we have a lot to discuss."

When both of us had received lemonade and hugs, we were seated in one of the rooms of the Big House, unfortunately, where Mr. D was currently seated.

"Well, well," he said, examining his fingernails. "If it isn't Anna and James."

"Aria," I said, through gritted teeth. "For the last time, get it right. I know you know my name." He only remembered James's name because he was his son, but he found an excuse every time to forget mine.

He ignored me. Typical.

"Aria, why don't you describe your situation to us?" Chiron asked politely, obviously ignoring the temperamental god in the corner.

I took a deep breath. "Well, we know there's a monster in Forks. The one you sent us to kill. But I – _we_ – think that there might be another war starting up – the monster, Mr. Banner, seems to be reporting to another person, and he'd recruited someone to hinder us. That doesn't seem like the ordinary monster."

"Who did he recruit?" Chiron asked. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"One of our classmates, a boy named Sean," James said. "We think he was brainwashed into it, but that might not be the case. That's still under questioning."

"And the teacher, Mr. Banner – he seems to be working for someone else?"

I nodded.

Chiron sighed. "It's barely been four months since the Giant War…it must be too soon."

"Well, if someone else wants revenge, they'd only be able to start now," I said. "My guess is that they're starting small, only attacking the demigods in isolated areas or out on missions, and then, they'll move large. To Camp Jupiter and to us."

"That's a scary thought," James said, shuddering. "Some monster picking each of us off, one by one."

"Don't be pessimistic," Chiron reprimanded gently. "This could just be an overconfident monster, not necessarily a new war."

"So we need a new battle strategy," I said. "One that doesn't involve the Cullens."

"Why do you want to keep the Cullens out of this?" Chiron asked.

"It's not their war to fight," James said, repeating my words from earlier. "Whoever's after us now, they're probably not after the vampires. They should be kept out of sight, but we could use the extra fighting power here and there."

"Hah! Of course you wouldn't want them to know, the useless vampires," Mr. D laughed. I'd forgotten that he was in the room.

I fought back the urge to say "Shut up, Mr. D."

"Dad, be quiet," James said. "That isn't nice."

Again, Mr. D ignored us. I wondered how James had the patience to put up with this father of his.

"Hm…" Chiron mused, stroking his overgrown beard. "I think the first move would be to determine who else in your school is aiding the monster. From there, we could probably capture one and get information from him or her."

"You mean a torture interrogation?" I asked. Those were very rare, but were needed in drastic circumstances. I didn't know if this was considered 'drastic' yet.

"No, I mean we can probe their mind until we find something," he clarified.

"But if we have several mind readers, that's almost as exhausting for a human as torture," James pointed out.

"We'll keep it to a minimum, then. As long as we get the information that we need."

"What if we don't find anyone else but Sean?" I asked. It was highly likely that there was only one human helping Mr. Banner.

"Then take Sean and question him," Chiron insisted.

"That sounds like a plan," James said. "Should we get back right away, or stay here?"

"Depends on when the vampires are expecting you back," Chiron said. "Do you want to call—"

And right on cue, my cellphone began to ring. I fished it out of the back pocket of my jeans and hit SEND.

"Hello?"

"Aria? It's me, Alice. I got your number from Bella."

"Hey, Alice. What time do you want us to get back?"

"What time can you get back?"

I looked over at Chiron. _Now_, he mouthed.

"We can be home in a couple hours, if we leave now," I said.

"Dionysus will transport you back," Chiron cut in. I raised my eyebrows.

"What's a god doing there?" Alice asked.

"I'll explain when we get back," I said. "Apparently we'll be in your house in the next five minutes."

"Okay, see you!" she chirped, and then hung up.

"Dionysus is going to transport us?" I said disbelievingly, looking over at the moody god.

"Apparently I am," he said, twirling grape stem between his fingers. "Now go stand next to my son and try not to throw up."

"Remember the plan, Aria," Chiron insisted. "Call me and let me know of the progress."

"Fill Percy in, please," I said. "And tell him to hold a council meeting. And tell him that we'll call him tonight. And tell him—"

"Shut up already!" Dionysus yelled. "I'm getting tired of waiting."

I made a face and went to stand next to James.

"Close your eyes," he whispered. And then the world went black.

*O*

"WHOA!"

"How on _earth_ did they get here?"

"I don't think randomly appearing is one of their powers…"

I groaned. My stomach was churning. I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch and stumbled to the nearest couch. A crash told me James had collapsed on the spot.

"Aria? James? Are you guys okay?" Rose's concerned face swam into view.

"Freaking transports…" I managed to choke out, clutching my stomach.

"Give us a second," James panted.

I closed my eyes again and waited for the room to stop spinning. A couple seconds later, I felt a bit better, so I opened my eyes.

The entire Cullen family, plus Bella, was standing anxiously over me and James.

"Oh my god, are you guys okay?" Bella asked, sounding panicked.

"We're fine," I said. "Just…the aftereffects of being transported. It isn't pretty."

"Got that right," James said.

"Where'd you guys go?" Edward asked.

"We went home," I said. "We had to check in with our family."

"So everything's okay?" Esme asked.

"Everything's fine," James repeated. "Before you ask, we aren't hungry. Transportation tends to do that to you."

"But…" Rose frowned. "You guys have to eat something."

"Let them be," Emmett said, and I thanked him mentally. "They look exhausted."

"I just want to sleep," I whined. I crawled up to James and curled up next to him.

"Aww, isn't that sweet!" Alice cooed.

I was too tired to tell her to shut up. I felt James curl around me, and I knew he was falling asleep too.

"Shouldn't we move them upstairs?" Jasper said.

"Let them be," Esme whispered. "They look adorable."

The sounds were fading away now, and I was only aware of how warm James was right now. It felt really good.

_Remember the plan_, my tired mind whispered to me, but I pushed that thought away until I woke up.

I sank peacefully into the dark cave of dreams, where monsters and new wars didn't exist.

**A/N: Hello. I hope that since I got this chapter out quicker, you guys will be happier. I'll be updating The Survivor later in the week.**

**I have a fic rec for y'all – the first one ever. It's Golden Lifestyle by Judy1998. She's got seven stories, six of which are in progress, and this is her first completed story. It is awesome – no other words. Go read it – I doubt you'll be sorry.**

**I might start doing this weekly – posting a fic rec. God knows I love them. Happy reading! **


	32. Out of the Loop

**Chapter 34**

**A/N: Good morning. I tend to say that whenever I see someone now. I took the idea of a school event from an ANON reviewer, twilightedfan. Thanks!**

**Aria POV**

My wing had finally healed. After a month of waiting, I had two useful and functioning wings again. This fit in perfectly with the plan – Edward could no longer read my mind, nor James's. My defensive shield was back up around both of us – and wouldn't be going down again.

*O*

"So, there's a Spring Formal coming up at school," Alice said, plopping down next to me on the couch where I was doing my homework.

I looked at her oddly. "And…?"

"And," she continued. "You're going."

It took a moment for that to sink in. "Oh, hell no!"

"Oh, hell yes, honey," Alice said happily. "I know the _perfect _dress for you."

"No, no no nononono," I said quickly. "I don't wear dresses."

"Well, now you do—"

"I'm not going!" I protested. "It is a definite _no_."

"But the dress would look so good on you—"

"Edward!" I yelled, despite the fact that it was highly unnecessary to yell.

"What?" he said, materializing at my side two seconds later.

"I don't want to go to a Spring Formal!"

He grimaced. "She's making me go, too."

I groaned. "Do something! Didn't Percy make you promise to protect me?"

"Spring Formals aren't dangerous—" he started.

I glared at him until he fidgeted.

Alice laughed happily. "None of you are getting out of this!" she danced away, humming to herself.

"This isn't fair," I grumbled.

"She does this every year," Edward said sympathetically. "There's no way you're getting out of this."

I groaned again, putting my head in my hands. If only we could turn this into a good opportunity…

I sat up straight suddenly, as if shocked. "This is perfect!"

"What's perfect?" Edward asked, confused.

"Where's James?" I demanded ignoring his question.

"Um…outside, I think. Why—"

I raced off before he could finish his question. Throwing myself out of the third story window, I plummeted downwards, letting my wings extend and catch me as I halted right in front of James.

"Aria!" he said, surprised. "What—"

"We have an opportunity," I said, excited. "There's a Spring Formal coming up. Sean's going to be there – most probably, at least. We can find out if there are any other humans working with him there!"

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Alice forces everyone to go, each year," I explained.

"You know we need to be extra careful," he said, switching to Ancient Greek. "The Cullens will be on the watch if they know we're up to something."

I nodded. "I know. We'll just pretend to not want to go, and at the dance, we can slip away. It'll be easy."

"They've got a mind reader," he warned.

I smiled. "Not anymore. My wing's healed, remember? He can't read our minds anymore."

"Oh, right. So we've got a clear in, right?"

"Right," I repeated. "All we need to do is make sure we don't raise suspicion."

"Speaking of that, we should get inside. They're probably wondering why you threw yourself out of a third story window."

I giggled. "I love having functioning wings again."

*O*

"So, why'd you run off screaming that something was perfect?"

I was disturbed from my homework yet again, by another Cullen sitting down where I was.

I scowled. "Can I not get any work done?"

"Aria, you could pass all the classes that the seniors are taking with your eyes closed," Edward said.

I sniffed. "My father instilled a good work ethic in me."

"Are you going to answer my question?"

I sighed, using the time to think of an excuse as fast as I could. "When we first met, James and I made a bet that I would never wear a dress. He said that one day, I would, and I said that I wouldn't unless I was forced to. Alice is forcing me to wear the goddamn dress. I won."

"Is that it?" Edward regarded me with what seemed like suspicion.

"Yeah, why?"

He kept staring at me. "You know I can't read your mind anymore."

"My wing healed. My defensive shield is back up."

"So no one can read your mind now?"

"James can, more so when he has physical contact with me. Percy will always be able to, and most demigods can get a vague sense of my thoughts if I'm not really trying to block them out."

Edward sighed. "I'm so used to knowing everything that's going on around me – who's planning what, what I need to watch out for, who to avoid – all that stuff."

He regarded me again. "Can you promise me something, Aria?"

"Okay," I said, confused as to where this was going.

"Keep me informed," he said, and my stomach dropped. "I don't want any surprises."

"Of course, Edward," I said, doing my best to regulate my heartbeat.

He smiled at me and gave me a quick hug. "Get back to work. You need better grades."

I stuck my tongue out at him. As soon as he walked out and closed the door behind him, I launched myself off the couch and opened the window. All that time without flying was coming back to hit me, thus, it was time to hit the sky again.

As I flew, I let myself ponder everything I hadn't dared to think about the past month, solely because my thoughts were not private to me.

Keeping the Cullens out of the loop would undoubtedly cause some sort of strife, but the fact that this wasn't their battle remained. Though their existence for the past thousand years wasn't questioned, the part they played in our lives was minimal – or, nonexistent. Bringing them into our wars all of a sudden would no doubt cause the other side, whoever that may be, to go scouting for vampires as well.

If we had the Cullens on our side, we had the Denalis, too. I'd heard Edward and Carlisle discussing Tanya and her family, other allies that we could use if needed. The Volturi were obviously out of the question – they wouldn't side with vegetarian vampires. So if we truly needed it, we could possibly work fast enough to get more vampires than the other side.

Which brought about another question. _Who was the other side?_

The Titans were already beaten down, and so were the giants, and their mother. So who was left to hate the demigods so much that they wanted us all dead?

I sighed to myself. Maybe Sean, or another of his cronies, would be able to shine some light on that for us.

Now onto the next issue – Sean and his maybe-cronies. How would we root them out of the regular population without the Cullens noticing?

Mind reading was a good start, but without Edward and Jasper, that might be a bit difficult.

James could probably read their moods. He had a more vague sense of the direction of their thoughts, rather than a direct sense, like I did. If he read their moods while I worked certain triggers, it could possibly narrow down our suspects.

So what triggers to use? Any helpers of Sean or the monster would have to know that we were demigods. Maybe if I did something typical of a demigod, like reaching for my sword or tensing when someone got too close, that could raise a red flag. But it could also alert the Cullens.

I slammed into a tree out of frustration. I couldn't do anything without raising the damn suspicion of the Cullens!

I tensed as an idea struck me. If Bella were sick, Edward would stay home. There went the most perceptive Cullen, already narrowing down the party to four. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, would probably not watch us really well. But Rosalie had a maternal instinct towards me and James – that would have to be avoided.

What was the thing most likely to distract them?

I grinned evilly as the answer hit me. _Sex_. But they had to be in the mood for it. I shuddered as an unwanted mental picture hit me.

The _mood_.

Jasper. If he was feeling sexually frustrated, he would project it onto the rest of them.

So how to get him to feel sexually frustrated.

I nearly fell out of my perch on the tree as the answer hit me. James and I would have to…ramp it up a notch.

_Oh dear effing gods_. I was hit with a fit of giggles again. Percy would _so_ not be happy with this plan.

I flew back to the Cullen house, my head brimming with ideas. When I pushed the window back up, I found James rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Um…James?" I said. "Are you okay?"

"I heard _all_ of your thoughts…oh gods!" he doubled over again with laughter.

"How on earth did you hear all of that?" I demanded, slightly mortified.

"I concentrated," he said, in Ancient Greek. "It wasn't hard, your shield is around me, remember?"

"Right," I said, pulling him up. "So what do you think?"

"It's a good plan, we just need to figure out ways to incapacitate Bella."

"A fever. I can have one of Apollo's kids send her body temperature soaring," I suggested. "Or I could mess with her mind and make her think that she's sick."

"I'd prefer the actual fever," James agreed. "Who are we going to call to do that?"

"The Roman camp is closer, but the Greek are better trained in medicine. Can we have Apollo transport one of his kids here?"

"How are we going to manage that?"

I pulled open a drawer of the desk we both shared, where a pile of drachmas lay. "Iris Message him."

**A/N: Hello, my lovelies. Review, pretty please. I will post again, an EPOV next time. And soon. Things are heating up quickly. **

**Fic Rec: **Remember Me Tomorrow by Skychaser

**Trust me, it is worth the read. **


	33. The Bomb

**Chapter 35**

**A/N: Hey, guys. This is an EPOV this time. It's kinda short, but I'll get the next chapter out quicker. Review, please! **

**Edward POV**

They were hiding something. I could tell. Something was wrong, they were hiding something, and I had no idea what it was.

_Damnit_.

Any plans that they made ultimately affected our family, and if one of us got hurt in the process since we didn't know, shit would go down. Fast.

Aria wasn't telling the truth about why she screamed 'It was perfect.' I was half-convinced, but she regulated her heartbeat pretty well.

I wandered around the house, trying to find something to do. There was absolutely nothing to occupy me unless I wanted to help Alice choose dresses and suits for the Spring Formal.

No thank you.

"Iris Message him."

I caught the last bit of a conversation between Aria and James. They were speaking in whispers and were on the other side of the house, so of course I didn't hear anything before that.

So who were they Iris messaging, and why? I hated the fact that they thought they needed to hide things from us. After all, we were here to help, not to hinder. What was wrong with a little extra back up?

"Edward!" Alice said, calling me from the other side of the house. "I need your help."

I sighed and ran over to where she was sitting with a million different magazines around her.

"Yes, my dear sister?"

She looked up at me. "Why are Aria and James hiding something?"

I blinked. "You noticed?"

"Of course I noticed," she sighed. "I can't see their futures anymore."

"Aria's wing healed," I noted. "Her shield is back up around them."

Alice sighed, a sound that sent a chill through me. Well, a sound that made me feel like something bad was about to happen.

"Before their futures disappeared…I saw something."

"What?" I demanded, immediately searching her mind for whatever it was.

She scowled at me. "You're not going to get it by searching me."

"Fine. Now tell me, what is it?"

Alice sighed again. She was starting to scare me.

"This thing that they're hiding…it's going to have repercussions. Drastic repercussions." She looked up at me again, and the fear I saw in her eyes made me shiver.

"One of them is going to end up dead."


	34. Preparations

**Chapter 36**

**A/N: Hey, guys! Aria's back in this chapter. There'll definitely be an outtake for the dance, and for this chapter, so review if you want one! Anyways, happy reading!**

**Aria POV**

I fidgeted uncomfortably, annoying Alice yet again.

"I swear, Aria, can't you ever learn to keep still?"

"I'm ADHD, Alice, I'm programmed to always be moving," I said to her.

"Can't you keep still at least while trying dresses on?"

That's right, Alice had finally dragged me along with her to go dress shopping. After much wheedling and blackmailing, I'd finally been convinced. Edward told me that if I didn't go, Alice would end up taking my measurements in my sleep and forcing me into a truly hideous dress.

"But I hate dresses," I whined. "Haven't I tried enough on already?"

Alice ignored me, handing me yet another dress to try on. I grumbled to myself and slipped back into the dressing room.

When I came back out again, Alice squealed.

"Oh, this is it! I just know it is!"

"Thank the gods," I said, grateful that the ordeal was finally over. In truth, it really was a pretty dress. It was gray, black, and white, and those colors suited me perfectly. It was strapless, with a little opening in the back and a tiered bottom half. It did suit me, if I do say so myself.

"Can we get out of here now?" I pleaded.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I swear, you're just like Bella."

"I can sympathize with the poor girl now."

She just smiled at me. We bought the dress and walked back out to where we'd parked her Porsche.

"So, Aria, what's going to happen next?"

I looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what steps are you taking to weed out the monster next?"

Again, I did my best to regulate my heartbeat, while trying to come up with a simple white lie.

I shrugged. "We're waiting for instructions right now. Everyone else at Camp Jupiter is going to help, and right now, they're getting ready to run a protection detail here."

There. A simple lie. One that was believable, too.

Alice smiled. "That's good. Let us know, okay?"

"Of course," I said, nodding. I felt terribly guilty for lying to her.

*O*

Once we were back at home, I let Alice deposit the dress wherever she saw fit and immediately rushed upstairs to find James.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, seeing the look on my face. He crossed the room quickly and held me into his arms.

"I think they suspect something," I whispered in Greek. "Alice was asking me the same things that Edward asked."

"They don't know," James whispered back in Greek. "We haven't even begun to hide things yet. We just have to be more careful."

"Thank the gods Alice can't see our futures anymore," I said. Switching back to English, I continued, "And she made me try on at least a hundred different dresses."

James laughed and kissed me quickly. "You'll look beautiful no matter what."

I smiled. "Can we go outside or something? It's been a while since I've actually practiced or anything."

"D'you want to go to the meadow?"

I nodded. The meadow would be the perfect place for me to reacquaint myself with my fighting skills.

"Let's go."

*O*

A couple hours later, we were back at the house. Alice immediately met us at the front door and dragged me away from James.

"I need to see what makeup looks best on your skin tone," she provided an excuse. I shot James an apologetic look.

In Alice's room, Rose and Bella were also there, with Rose in front of a vanity mirror and Bella sitting on the bed.

Rose turned around to face me. "I saw your dress, Aria, and it's _so_ pretty."

I smiled. "All credits go to Ali, of course."

Alice beamed at me. "Now, sit down, and let me experiment."

I grimaced, and Bella shot me a sympathetic look. Sitting myself down in the chair, I took a brief moment to read her mind and see if Rose and Alice told her anything if they suspected me yet. Thankfully, nothing.

"So, Aria, how are you feeling about going to your first school dance?" Rose asked.

I lifted my eyebrow. "Isn't this usually done when the girl is single and _human_?"

Bella laughed. "She's got a point."

"Speaking of James, what is up with you two?" Alice asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you guys are like an old married couple. Not the fighting, but like, and old married couple still thoroughly in love."

"Is that a bad thing?" I questioned.

"No, just wondering…" Rose trailed off. "I mean, have you two…well…"

I laughed, understanding what she was asking. "I'm still a virgin, if you're wondering. Percy would have my head if I wasn't. Not to mention my father."

"So the rules of overprotective male relatives apply to gods as well," Bella mused.

"Is this a gossip session or something?" I asked. "I mean, aren't those pretty pointless, since all of our significant others can hear us?"

"Damn right we can!" Emmett yelled from somewhere in the house.

Rose smiled. "Well, it's more fun when they hear us and then get all mad."

"And then there's always the makeup sex…" Alice smiled, waving a small brush over my face.

I covered my ears. "Ew! I do _not_ need to hear about that stuff!"

Bella laughed at my discomfort. "You'll get used to it in time, honey. I did."

I could hear James laughing all the way from the solarium, so I sent some mean thoughts his way.

"Anyway," Alice said, wiping the stuff off of my face. "The dance is in three days, so I'll let you off until then. I've got Bella and Rose to work on."

Bella made a face, and I smiled sympathetically at her.

"Well, as long as you don't bug me, I'm happy!" I said, running out of the room. Immediately, I headed for the solarium, where James was.

"The dance is in three days," I said.

"I know," he replied. A quick glance confirmed that he was thinking the same thing I was: we had to Iris Message Apollo right now.

"Let's go for a walk," James suggested. He and I both knew we couldn't be in the house while talking to Apollo – if he would talk to us. There was a window near us, close enough to the ground that both of us could jump out.

"Hey, guys," Emmett said, effectively ruining our desire for an unnoticed departure. "Going somewhere?"

"A walk," I said. "We, at least, I, need some fresh air after all that makeup."

"A walk, or a _walk_?" Emmett asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I threw a little potted plant at Emmet, which he, of course, caught easily. "Shut up," I said, smiling. "You and Rose should go for a _walk_ soon."

Emmett waved us off and went on his way, ignoring Esme's yells from downstairs to leave her poor potted plants alone.

Once we were far enough away from the house that no one could hear us, I dug out the drachma that I always carried around with me and gathered the mist from the air around us. Once the light hit the mist enough to create a rainbow, I said the prayer and threw the drachma in.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept this offering," I said. When the rainbow began to shimmer, I dictated, "Show me Apollo, God of the lyre."

When contacting gods, you always put what they were commander of – one never knew where any god was at a given time.

What I was showed surprised me greatly. The twelve gods were gathered in the great room on Mount Olympus.

We had just interrupted a council meeting.

James cursed in Ancient Greek.

"Aria, what a surprise," my father said. "Is there something we can do for you?"

I hated the fact that all the Olympians were looking at me, and not all with friendly looks. Ares still hated the fact that I was Poseidon's daughter.

"Um…we kind of needed Apollo's help," I said, trying not to look terrified out of my wits.

Athena sighed, and I could feel her disdain three thousand miles away. "Why are we talking to them by a rainbow? Transfer them here."

Before I could make any sound of protest, the world around me went black.

*O*

"Was it really necessary to spring that on them, Athena?" my father demanded.

I lifted myself up from the ground, looking beside me to make sure James was okay.

"We're fine," I grumbled. _Though it was unnecessary,_ I added to myself.

"What need arose that you should call for Apollo's assistance?" Zeus asked us, his gray eyes burning into me.

I scowled, hating that we would have to explain the entire plan with all the Olympians present.

"We need him to transfer of his children here – preferably Katie," I said. "We need Bella to get sick so that Edward won't bother us during the dance. We're planning on extracting some information then."

I gave them the shortest and least information-revealing version of our plan. Katie would be the best option because she knew how to make people sick really easily, and she would be willing to help out for a couple days.

Apollo raised his sunglasses and looked at me. "So you want me to just transfer my daughter here without any further notice?"

I shook my head. "I was hoping to call her first, and then request a certain time. We only have three days, and we need at least two for a fever to culminate."

Apollo nodded and tossed me a cellular phone. Apparently, it was his, as the banner read APOLLO IS AWESOME. I laughed to myself. "Call her now."

I felt a bit uncomfortable holding a phone to my ear with the twelve most powerful beings on earth in the same room.

After three rings, she picked up. "Hello?"  
"Hi, Katie, it's Aria."

"Oh, hey, Aria, what's up?"

"I kind of need a favor."

"Tell me."

"I need you to come to Forks, Washington, and give the vampires' human a fever."

There was silence for a minute.

"Am I right in assuming that you're now in the Throne Room on Olympus, and my dad is going to transfer me to Washington by tonight?"

"Absolutely."

"Sounds fantastic. Tell him to give me ten minutes and then send me to the Cullen house."

"See ya." I hung up and tossed the phone back to Apollo. "You heard what she said."

"I did," he said. "She'll be at your house in ten minutes. Meanwhile, someone get them back to where they're supposed to be."

"What are you going to tell the Cullens about Katie?" Zeus questioned.

I hesitated for a minute. "That her specialty is fighting monsters and she's helping us track it down." It wasn't _all_ a lie, after all.

He nodded. "Good luck." And with that, the world turned to black again.

*O*

Once again, I pulled myself up from the ground and pulled James up with me.

"Why didn't you say anything the entire time?" I asked him.

"Honestly? They scare me," he admitted.

"They scare me too," I said. "But I was the one that had to talk to them."

He kissed my cheek. "My brave Aria. Come on, we have to go warn the Cullens that Katie's coming."

"I'm so glad she agreed," I said. "But I feel bad that Bella will have to get sick."

"We'll make it a delirious fever," James suggested. "No sore throat, nothing. Just a raise in temperature that demands her to be at home."

Within minutes, we were back at the Cullen home.

Carlisle was in the kitchen with Esme, helping her prepare a small meal for me and James.

"Perfect," I said. "I want to talk to you both."

Both of them turned around to face James and I.

"One of our friends is coming here to help us with the monster," James said. "Her name's Katie."

"She'll be here for no more than four days, and she has her own place to stay," I added. It was true – there was a safehouse right next to the Newton house, which was the reason that we'd been sent to them in the first place.

"Oh, that's not necessary!" Esme exclaimed. "She can just stay here."

James and I exchanged a look.

"All of our equipment is stocked in another safehouse, so it's kind of necessary that she stays there," I said quickly. It seemed that I was lying more and more these days.

"When will she be here?" Carlisle asked.

James checked his watch. "In just under a minute, if Apollo wasn't lying."

"Perfect," I said. "The safehouse is ready, right?"

James nodded. "She shouldn't have any trouble. Do you know where Apollo will transfer her?"

A shriek coming from the living room answered that question.

Edward came running into the kitchen. "Dad, do you mind telling us why a demigod appeared out of thin air?"

"My fault," I said quickly. "Don't mind her, she's a bit odd."

James and I rushed to the living room to find a very surprised Bella sitting on the couch.

"Hi, I'm Katie," Katie was saying. "You must be Bella."

Edward folded his arms and looked at me. "An explanation, maybe?"

I smiled. "Katie, Edward and Bella, Edward and Bella, Katie. She's a daughter of Apollo and here to assist us."

"Pleasure to meet you, vampires," Katie said. "So, when are we going to the safehouse?"

"As soon as you're ready," James said.

Katie grinned, a gesture that told me she was eager to do her job. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!"

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! There's a link to Aria's dress up on my profile. Again, review if you want an outtake from the unknown's POV… ******snickers****

**Fic Rec: Bad Blood by LadyExcalibur2010 - an amazing FF that really touches the heart :)  
**


	35. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 37**

**A/N: Good mornin' Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review! My break is almost over, so if you want more chapters, don't forget to click the little button at the bottom! **

**Aria's POV **

Katie looked around at the safehouse before dumping her bags on the table in the center.

"Is this the space I have to work with?" she asked.

I nodded. Apollo had stocked it just before she arrived her, according to what James said. There were several medical aids around the room, along with weapons that only demigods would use. Old herbal concoctions lined the walls, again exemplifying skills that only a child of Apollo would have.

"And again, my only job is to make Bella have a fever?" Katie asked.

I nodded again. "And you'd better get started now, since we need at least two days for the fever to culminate."

Katie indicated her agreement. "I kind of wish I was coming to the dance, though," she said wistfully. "Long time since I've been to one of those."

"Believe me, if I could, I'd let you take my place," I said. "I've got no desire to be there."

"Hang on," James said, speaking for the first time since we left the Cullen home. "What if she did come to the dance?"

"What good would that do?" I asked, unable to see where he was headed with this.

"If she comes, then the people who're associated with the monster won't know if she's human or demigod," James said excitedly. "Then, if she does the actions of a regular demigod, they'll be more likely to spike. And since you have the best hearing out of all of us, it would be more practical if you were the one listening."

I thought this over, turning all the aspects of this plan in my mind. "It sounds good," I said finally. "We can make this work."

Katie clapped her hands together with glee, but then her smile faded.

"What?" I asked.

"I need a dress," she pouted.

I laughed. "Alice will be more than happy to shop for one more dress. Though I'm warning you, you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Katie merely smiled. "I'll be back at the Cullen house in two hours at the maximum. It should take me that much time to create a feverish atmosphere. Meanwhile, tell Alice that I need a dress, and I'll be over for her to take my measurements."

"Perfect," James said. "After that, we can go over the plan one last time."

"See you in two hours, then," Katie said, shooing us out the door. "Now leave, I need to work my magic."

I grinned in response, took James's hand, began the run back to the Cullen house.

Fifteen minutes later, I decided it was time to go tell Alice that we had one more person attending the dance.

Rose was lounging around in the living room, flipping through channels on the TV.

"D'you know where Alice is?" I asked her.

"Probably the den," she responded. "Wanna watch TV with me?"

I smiled. "I'll find Alice and come back," I promised. I found Alice in the den, surrounded by racks and racks of clothing. Again.

"Ali, when are you going to stop obsessing about clothes?" I asked her.

"When you stop being part god," she replied absent-mindedly. "What's up?"

"Y'know Katie?" I said. "The friend who came here to help us?"

"Mhmm."

"She needs a dress for the dance."

Alice squealed. I covered my ears. "Oh my gosh! She's coming too! Perfect! I was wondering on who I could use that absolutely _gorgeous_—"

"Ali," I said warningly. "She'll be coming back in two hours to drop off something. You can take her measurements then."

I began walking out of the den, when I decided to say one more thing. "And stop thinking about who to set her up with!"

Alice gaped at me. "How did you—"

I just tapped my head and smiled.

When I got back upstairs, I joined Rose on the couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table.

"It's been a long time since we talked," Rose said.

I nodded. "Too much going on, and not enough time."

"So tell me, do we still scare you?" she asked.

I smiled slightly. "You guys never scared me, it was just the idea that something out there might be able to pull down the façade I had going that scared me."

"What façade?"

"Well…concealing that we exist, actually. I'm not used to having that questioned."

"How do you keep it from humans, then? Does your mom even know you exist?"

"Yeah, my mom knows I exist. I have a brother too, remember? Most of the time, the human parents of demigods are told what their children are. But sometimes, their children get killed way too soon."

Rose sighed. "When I was still human, I used to dream of having children. I just loved the idea that I could raise my own flesh and blood to be wonderful people. I kind of miss that possibility now."

"I miss my mom," I said. "She lives all the way in New York, and I rarely get to see her." I looked up at Rose. "I'll be your daughter if you be my mom," I suggested, grinning.

Rose put her arm around me, and I snuggled into her side. "You're a nice kid," she said. "Don't know why people are always wanting to kill you."

_Because we're powerful_, I thought to myself, but I was already sinking into the world of dreamland. The events of the past weeks had caught up to me, and so had the lack of sleep. The soft sounds of the TV and Rose's statue-like arm were gently lulling me to sleep.

*O*

"Shh, don't wake her. She's asleep."

"But that's so adorable! Who knew my Rosie would ever end up _hugging_ someone?"

"Shut up, Emmett. Let her sleep."

I was awakened by the vampiric voices around me. I cracked one eye open, only to see Emmett's grinning face very close to my own.

Obviously, I was surprised. I think Emmett was more surprised when I yelled and threw myself backwards over the edge of the couch.

"Jeez, Emmett," I said angrily. "Do you _really_ want to wake me up like that?"

"See, I learned the hard way," James said, coming into the room. "When I did that, she dislocated my jaw."

Emmett winced, and Rosalie laughed. "I told you not to wake her up."

I looked over at James. "Did Katie already come?"

"And leave," he said. "We didn't feel like waking you up."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. "I kind of needed the sleep."

"Yeah, who knew a vampire's arms could be so comforting?" Rose said jokingly. She got up from her position on the couch and dragged Emmett up with her. "I think it's time we go hunting," she said to him. She hugged me quickly, and then she and Emmett disappeared.

I dropped to the couch again and put my head in my hands.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"I can't do this," I said, rubbing my face.

"Do what?"

"I can't deceive them," I clarified, switching to Ancient Greek. "I can't just leave them out of the plans like this. I feel terrible."

James sat down next to me. He knew how I felt, I was pretty much projecting all of my emotions onto him.

"How about this," he suggested. "Once we figure out for sure who the other people are, we can tell them exactly who the humans are. And then we'll tell them whatever we do from there."

I smiled. "That makes me feel a hell of a lot better."

"Wonderful," James said, leaning over to kiss me. I'm sure he intended it to be a short kiss, but I needed the comfort. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him fiercely. He seemed to sense some of the desperation I was feeling (no shit, I was probably driving him crazy with my emotions) and kissed me back just as passionately.

I wasn't sure how far we would have gone, seeing as we were in the living room of the Cullen home, when Edward walked in on us.

"Ew, gross," he said immediately, putting his hands over his eyes. "Can you guys get a room or something?"

I detached myself from James and looked over at him. "Just because _you're_ so sexually frustrated doesn't mean the rest of us have to be," I teased.

Edward scowled at me. "Emmett's rubbed off on you," he lamented. "Ah, the loss of another poor soul."

I giggled, and James immediately pulled my face back down to his. I was happy to get lost in the feeling of him, letting all my worries go.

It was almost as good as going to sleep.

**A/N: Remember to press that little button below! Next chapter is the dance….and oh, sparks are going to fly. ******evil smile** Ten reviews minimum and I'll update. **

**Fic Rec: **Scarlet by archer24 - _Bella is the greatest thief the world's never seen; she is only recognized by her scarlet calling card. Edward is FBI, and has been able to catch every criminal he's come across. Little do they know, they are both about to meet their match. AH, OOC, AU_

**Give it a shot – it's worth it!**


	36. The Storm: Part 1

**Chapter 38**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I loved reading all of them! I got a couple questions from some people, but I'll answer those below. Thanks so much! **

**Aria's POV**

The day of the dance was finally here. I think it should be called the day of doom, instead. It had a nice ring to it.

Bella was at home, with what everyone thought was a naturally-induced fever. Katie and I shared a devious look when we heard that. Carlisle and Esme had insisted that Edward still go to school, because there was nothing he could do for Bella.

"Just let the fever run its course," Carlisle had said. "I know how these things work."

I'd had to run out of the room just to control my laughter. I was feeling _really_ evil that day.

Which resulted in a very agitated Edward driving me and James to school that morning.

"Dude, if you nearly run off the road one more time, I'm going to take Aria and run to school myself," James said, as Edward swerved dangerously near the edge.

He merely muttered an expletive under his breath.

"Seriously, Edward, you've gotta calm down," I said. "Bella's fine. It's just a natural fever."

"And I can't do anything about it," he growled.

James and I exchanged a look, but stayed silent. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when Edward finally pulled into the parking lot. In his haze of self-induced anger, he couldn't see that Mike Newton was waiting to talk to him.

"Hey, Edward, d'you have a second—"

"No," Edward growled, side-stepping Mike and disappearing into the crowd.

Mike's gaze fell on James and I, and we just grinned.

"What's his problem?" Mike demanded.

"You," I said nonchalantly, strolling away.

The day passed by with little happenings, other than the entire school prepping for the dance, and Edward being unusually moody. By lunchtime, Alice and Rose were threatening to get him anti-depression pills if he didn't cheer up.

"Man, this is like the time before Bella," Emmett noted. "Cheer up, moody bastard."

Edward scowled at him.

"What do you mean, the time before Bella?" James said. "Was he moodier back then?"

Jasper chuckled. "Way more so."

I shuddered. "That can't be too pleasant to be around."

Edward scowled again, this time at me. I smiled innocently back at him.

"Anyway, dragging the topic away from Edward's moodiness, is everyone ready for the dance tonight?" Alice asked.

"Don't you dare say you have more work to do on me," I snarled. "I _hate_ dresses."

James chuckled and kissed me on the cheek. "But you won the bet."

I'd filled him in on the fake bet when I used it as an excuse.

"Yeah, not good enough," I muttered. "Dresses, and makeup…demigods don't do that shit."

"The daughters of Aphrodite," James reminded me.

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Daughters of the love goddess," I said. "Their almost as bad as Alice."

"Worse," James said, thinking of Drew.

"Oh gods, don't remind me of her," I groaned. "She was _horrible_ when she was going after Jason."

"Good thing he has a brain," James laughed.

"I know, right? And remember how she smelled?"

"Gods, she stunk up her cabin and the ones next to her for _weeks_."

"Who are they talking about?" Emmett asked, looking confused.

"Drew," I said. "Queen bitch of the daughters of Aphrodite."

"Wouldn't you be offending her mother if you said that?" Rose said.

"Nope," I clarified. "She doesn't like her either."

James smirked, thinking of the time we'd seen Aphrodite talk to Drew. Of course, no one had known we were there, eavesdropping.

Throughout the entirety of the day, Jasper swore he tried his best to make Edward cheer up, but nothing seemed to help. I told Edward that if he didn't stop glaring at every human brunette, I'd tell Lauren and Jessica, the two skanks of the grade, that he'd broken up with Bella and needed a date for the dance.

Surprisingly, he cheered up significantly after that.

As much as I'd wanted the day to go a lot slower, it was soon time for all of us to get home and get ready.

It was already given that Edward wasn't going to the dance, as Bella was in no condition to go. Carlisle and Esme couldn't very well force him to go, but Alice did try.

All too soon, I was dragged away from James and into Alice's room. Katie had joined us ten minutes ago, and now we were all closeted away in there. Bella was wrapped up in comforters on the bed, solely to keep us company. After all, none of us could really catch the fever from her.

I sat patiently as Alice primped Rose, and then Katie. The dress she'd picked out for Katie was truly beautiful, a dark red with a bejeweled neckline and waist. Her hair was twisted up a bit, all of her blond curls hanging down her back.

And then it was my turn. Alice forced me to sit down in front of the vanity mirror, with me grimacing every second. She swiped some foundation over my cheeks, and then mascara and eye shadow. She said I didn't need blush, since my skin already had a flushed skin tone.

I didn't even know what that meant.

Thankfully, Alice didn't do much damage to my hair. Just curled at the ends, and pinned at the sides, letting the rest fall down my back. I'd asked her to keep it out of my face, since trying to fight someone with hair in your face was _really_ not easy.

Then I was forced into my dress. It actually settled very well on my body, and I was able to strap a dagger to my upper thigh comfortably. Alice and Rose both were surprised when Katie and I stocked up on weapons, with Katie carrying both a knife and a pistol, loaded with celestial bronze and normal bullets.

"What's the need for the weapons?" Rose asked, eyeing my dagger uncomfortably.

"Protection," I said. "I've already had things go wrong too many times." I turned to Katie for help strapping the throwing knife to my back. If I needed to, I could yank it out and hit a target at the most, fifty feet away from me.

Unfortunately, I had no place to hide a shotgun, which would have been helpful in this situation.

"Is James carrying weapons too?" Alice asked.

"Of course," I said. As far as I knew, James had a dagger and a throwing knife on him, just like me. He wasn't really trained to use a pistol or a shotgun.

Katie finished securing the knife to my back, making sure it wouldn't poke me.

"I guess we're ready," I said, looking at Bella. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I have Edward, I'm good."

Katie smirked, exchanging a glance with me.

_Someone's gonna be busy tonight_, she thought, her mind straying towards the gutter. I made a face at her.

The rest of the guys were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Carlisle and Esme had insisted on pictures, but James and I had told them no way. We didn't do cameras.

As the rest were getting their pictures taken, James and I stood off to the side.

"I'd say you were beautiful, but we all know how true that is," he whispered to me.

I smiled, before turning serious again. "D'you have all your weapons?"

He nodded, gently pressing on my back to make sure my knife was there. "Are you ready to execute our 'distraction' plan?"

I smirked, pushing my hips against his briefly. "Ready."

"Alright, let's go," Emmett said, oblivious to our little side conversation. We all piled into his huge Jeep, with James and I having the back row entirely to ourselves.

_Time to get started_, I thought, leaning forward to kiss him after we put our seatbelts on.

We didn't keep the kiss chaste for long. Soon, his tongue was probing its way into my mouth, and I opened up gladly. He ran his hands over my waist lightly before pulling me to him roughly. The seatbelts made it odd to maneuver around, but we made it work.

After a minute of going on like this, Alice poked her head over the seat. "Hey, guys, could you get a room or something? Jasper's having a hard time over here."

I smiled to myself, and James smiled too. Neither of us pulled away, and I could hear Jasper swear under his breath.

Mission accomplished.

James was nearly on top of me in the backseat, but I kept leaning up, attempting to have as much access to him as possible. I think I moaned once, I was kind of past caring at that point. It made me curse Chiron for making us wait two more years.

Once we reached the school, Jasper quickly scrambled away from us. Only problem was, there were couples making out all over the parking lot.

Emmett, Rosalie, James, and I all laughed, and Jasper groaned. He quickly pulled Alice into the forest. James and I exchanged a triumphant look, while Emmett and Rosalie cracked up with laughter.

Once we were inside the gym, where the dance was being held, the two of us and Katie split off from the rest of the family.

"So, what now?" Katie asked.

"A waiting game," I said. "Emmett and Rose will disappear soon."

We only had to wait five minutes. After watching them grind on the dance floor in a way that should be inappropriate to even watch, Rosalie came to find me.

"Hey, Aria, Emmett and I are going to…"

"Don't even try explaining, just go," I said. "We'll call when we want to get home."

Rosalie drew me and James into a quick hug before scampering off with Emmett to god-knows-where. Actually, scratch that, I'm sure that even the gods at this point wouldn't want to know what they were doing.

"And now we go into action," I said eagerly. The room was dark, but light enough that I could still see outlines of people and how they moved.

"Alright, here's how its going to go," James said. "Katie, you're going to stand alone on the edge, but we're going to be not far away from you on the dance floor. You'll keep tensing whenever someone comes too close to you, and reaching for the place where your dagger _should_ be. Then, Aria and I will listen to the heartbeats of people around us, and whoever spikes, we follow them."

"Sounds great," Katie said. "Now you two go enjoy yourselves while I pretend to be paranoid."

I laughed and pulled James onto the dance floor.

"Y'know, I might actually enjoy this if we weren't on duty," James said, his hands twining around my hips for the slow song that was playing.

"Me too," I agreed, placing my hands on his shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept watch on Katie. She was standing unobtrusively on the edge, not attracting a lot of attention. But I knew that there were some people who were undoubtedly watching her.

Someone who I couldn't identify brushed her shoulder accidentally, and she immediately tensed and reached for her left forearm, but her dagger wasn't there.

See, for demigods, we keep our weapons on the inside of our non-dominant arm, so that we can reach it at a moment's notice. But, that only works if we're wearing long-sleeved clothing. Which Katie was not at the moment. Her hand brushed empty air, and I saw her eyes widen before settling down again.

"She's a good actress," I commented under my breath to James.

He nodded, agreeing quickly.

The second time it happened, I began listening for heartbeats all around us. Only one seemed to have an irregular rhythm. I searched around with my ears, trying to pinpoint it, until I came to a halt.

"Sean," I muttered under my breath. "Of course."

"One down, an unknown number to go," James said. "I'll keep an eye on Sean."

The third time someone passed by too close to her, Katie jumped and immediately reached for ankle. Where a gun would be, if she was wearing boots. Demigods often did that.

Two more heartbeats spiked. I searched around quickly, praying that it wasn't fluke.

Lauren and Tyler, the slutbag and her pimp. James chuckled at that, but I made sure they were also helpers. Both of them were staring at Katie, looking slightly worried. Exchanging one quick glance, they both made a beeline for Eric Yorkie at the same time.

"Looks like we've got our four," I said. "Let's make an exit. If there are any more, they'll follow."

James immediately took my hand and led me off the floor. We made our way quickly to Katie, and dragged her out as well.

"Get prepped for a fight," I said, hurrying to a deserted hallway far from the gym. They'd know where we were.

"They're all human," Katie said. "They're just helping the monster?"

"We still don't know who the monster is," James said.

"Money on Banner controlling it," I said. "But we'll deal with him later. Incapacitate these people and then take them to the safehouse."

I heard footsteps approaching, and immediately took a position right next to the corner.

"—I swear, the third one is a half blood," a female voice said. Lauren.

"She was reaching for her gun every time," Sean added. They were getting closer.

Eric Yorkie rounded the corner first. I'd never talked to him, the pimply-faced freak. I knew he'd had a thing for Bella when she first came here, which made him even worse in my book.

With a yell, I launched myself into a spin kick, drawing out my dagger somewhere in between. I grazed his shoulder with the blade, hitting his chest with my foot. He immediately fell, screeching in pain.

Katie had taken on Lauren, with James on Tyler. With Eric temporarily down, Sean was now the only one left.

"Well, Aria, we meet again," he said, grinning evilly.

I didn't reply, focusing all my energy on attacking. I attempted an uppercut, but he grabbed my arm. When I tried again with the other arm, he grabbed that too. Thankfully, I was in close enough proximity for a kick. I kicked his chin upwards with my foot, earning a grunt of pain from him. Wrenching my arms free, I punched his gut twice in quick succession, knocking all the wind out of him as well.

Unfortunately for me, I'd underestimated his training. When on the ground, he knocked my legs out from under me, and I went sprawling on the floor. Quick as lightning, he rolled on top of me, pinning me to the floor. He got in a few good punches while he was at it.

I still had my dagger in my hand, and he didn't know it. I twisted one leg between both of his and tangled us up so that he couldn't escape, and then stabbed the upper part of his arm. Very fleshy, that part. Also bleeds a lot.

Sean bellowed with pain, grabbing out randomly for me. I pulled myself up, and to finish it off, kicked him in the head. He stilled, still bleeding badly from his arm. I could deal with that later.

Katie had taken down Lauren with ease, seeing as she was such an airhead. James was still fighting with Tyler, who obviously had more muscle than I thought. Locking eyes with James, he knew of my plan instantly.

I took a few steps back, and then launched into the air to grab onto Tyler's neck. He yelled with surprise, and tried to twist around, but couldn't, giving James a free opening to stab him. He was down within seconds.

Our only problem left was Yorkie. He was stirring, trying to sit up, but I rushed over to him and hit him with the flat side of my blade. He was out cold in seconds.

I straightened up and sighed. The hallway was covered with blood. Thankfully, not too much of ours, though all of us sustained minor injuries.

"We need to get them to the safehouse," I said. "Anyone got rope to tie them up?"  
James picked the lock of a nearby janitor's closet, and returned quickly with the appropriate part of rope to tie them up.

"Thanks," I said, smiling. We quickly tied them up, and then realized we had no way of getting them to the safehouse.

"Shit," Katie swore. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"I didn't think there would be four people," I admitted. "Anyone feel like contacting their godly parents?"  
James and Katie both looked at me.

"Your dad's the most likely to listen," Katie pointed out.

I sighed, and James tossed a drachma to me. Why did I always have to be the one to Iris Message gods?

With a little effort, I soon had a rainbow going with the halogen lights and water from the water fountain.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering," I prayed. "Show my Poseidon, god of the sea."

I was immediately shown his underwater palace.

"Aria," my father said, surprised at me contacting him.

"Hello, Father," I said. "I know this might not be the best time to ask, but I really need a favor."

He folded his arms, a sign that he wanted me to continue.

"See, we captured four humans, and we need to get them back to the safehouse, and we can't," I said. "Would you mind helping us?"

He considered it. "You should have planned out your strategy better."

I hung my head. "I know, Dad. I'm sorry. We'll plan better next time."

"Be sure of that," he said. "Now, you said four humans?"

I nodded.

"Don't forget to fill Chiron in on what's happened," he reminded me.

"I will. I'll also make sure to contact you if something major happens," I said. "Thanks, Dad."

He nodded. "Get ready." He swiped his hand across the mist, disconnecting the Iris Message.

I barely had time to tell Katie and James to be prepared before the entire world faded to black around me.

**A/N: Phew, long chapter! I'm almost tired just writing about the fight! I hoped you guys liked that, please leave a review to let me know! I also will have Sean's POV on the entire thing, and maybe Lauren's, Tyler's, and Eric's, too. Though it'll just be the fights from those POVs. Let me know!**

**Fic Rec: **The Handcuff Bracelet by Lykodracos - _Having escaped to Forks, will Bella find solace in dark Edward Cullen? How hard will Edward have to fight to keep that which he longs to claim? Rated MA for lemons, language, drug and alcohol content. Tattoos with meaning, leather worn well- enjoy!_

**This is an amazing story, I really suggest you all give it a shot. Has lots of meaning behind it, don't be fooled.**

**Review Replies**:

**lil Miss Mysterious: **did you like the sparks flying? I would have made the make-out session a little steamier, except, well…I'm not changing this to an M rated story :P

**HuntressofArtemis192: **See, updating without reviews means I don't know how much my readers like the story…and I just can't write like that. Lol, I kinda wish I could just yell at anyone who read but didn't review XD

**Guest 1: **See, I'd like it to count for one thousand too!

**Twilightedfan**: Sorry I haven't responded earlier for your reviews, I just wish that FFN would let responses to Anon reviewers go through. My break is almost over, too. I'm gonna miss updating every day =(

**Cynthiacullen:** I'm so glad you liked the stories! They're some of my absolute favorites! Yes, I only try to rec completed stories, I don't like waiting too long :P I'm such a hypocrite. The Handcuff Bracelet is actually not completed, but I rec'd it anyway. It's too good

**Bookworkultimate: **thanks!

**Ninja4eva: **I'm glad you like the story! Sorry for the delay

**Mae2551: **Erm…I'd rather not have the furies after me, thanks. I hope you don't die of suspense, I'd rather like you alive to read the story :P

**Sitshakov**: I updated! Happy? I'm also in the middle of Rise, I'll get back to you once I've finished it.

**Guest 2: **I actually live on the West Coast, not on the East. The time difference is actually 3 hours, not 6. So, right now, it's 3 o'clock here, but in New York, it's 6 o'clock.

**Katie:** I updated! And I had you in mind when I named the Daughter of Apollo Katie :D Just a little present to my fav reviewer!

**Guest 3: **I love your conciseness. I did update!

**Greenafied: **Aww, thank so much! But please, get some sleep. Don't kill yourself! :)

**I LUVS NATURE:** I'm so happy you like it! Enjoy the story :D

**Anyways, my readers: until next time! Review! **:)


	37. The Storm: Part 2

**Chapter 39**

**A/N: We're almost to chapter 40, guys! Can we make it past 250 reviews with this chapter? **

**Aria's POV**

The light was dancing off of the walls when I opened my eyes. Immediately, I jumped to my feet, eyes darting around wildly for the four prisoners. Luckily, they hadn't woken up yet. James and Katie had. Together, we dragged the four of them to four separate rooms in the safehouse, isolating them from their support systems.

Now they just had to wake up.

"So what's our interrogation technique?" Katie asked, collapsing in a beanbag chair near the door.

"Intimidation," I said quickly. "I don't do anything else."

"Do we have to call anyone?" James asked. I gave him a quick confused look. "I mean, to tell them that we have prisoners."

I nodded. "Percy and Jason. Dionysus will already know – we had my father transport us. Phone, anyone?"  
James dialed Percy's number and tossed me his cell.

It rang four times before he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Percy, it's me."

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

I smiled at my brother's tendency to jump to conclusions. "We've got four humans as working with Banner. Haven't questioned them yet. We'll do it soon."

"Everything okay?"  
"Perfect."

"Call Jason and tell him too."

"I know. I will."

"Okay. Call me when interrogation is done. And be safe!"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. Love you."

"Love you too."

I hung up and dialed Jason's number. Five rings to pick up, this time.

"Jason Grace."

"Hey, Jason, it's Aria."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"We've got four humans for working with Banner – the one controlling the monster. Interrogation hasn't been done yet, they're still unconscious."

"I have teams on stand-by if you need them. I only need your word."

I laughed. "We're fine, Jason. I'll call if I need help."

"Alright. Be careful!"

I rolled my eyes again. Jason and Percy were too much alike for their own good. "I will. I'll call if anything comes up."

I hung up and tossed the phone back to James.

"How long until they wake up?" James asked.

"I have no idea," I responded. "I don't know how hard we hit them."

"How long do we have until we need to get back to the Cullens?" he asked again.

I turned to Katie.

"Jasper and Alice are…otherwise occupied, and so are Emmett and Rosalie," she said, wincing at the mental picture. "I've got no idea how long."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I heard sounds from upstairs. The humans had woken.

"It's time," I said, grinning. "Who wants which human?"

"You are not going _anywhere_ near Sean," James growled.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I've got Lauren. You get Sean. Katie?"

"Tyler. Eric's the weakest. He won't wake for a while."

I nodded. "Perfect. Let's go." The noises from the humans were getting louder. They were obviously trying to escape their bonds.

I slipped into the room where Lauren was being held just as she tried to get the ropes off of her arms.

"Hello, Lauren," I said quietly.

She looked up and narrowed her eyes at me. "You."

"Yes, me," I said. "Who else would it be?"

"I thought you'd have another demigod interrogate me. A scarier one."

I merely smiled at her. During interrogation, it was important to never let the subject see that you were angry. Control was mandatory at all times. I moved to sit down in the chair across from Lauren, while she glared at me angrily.

_If looks could kill_, I thought wryly, smiling to myself. I stared at Lauren, waiting for her to speak again.

"Are you human?" she asked me.

I smiled. "What do you think?"

"Well, Mr. Banner said—" she stopped suddenly, aware of the fact that she had let a name slip.

"Yeah, Mr. Banner told the same thing to Sean too," I said nonchalantly, reading her mind quickly to confirm the fact.

She scowled at me. I smiled back at her.

"So, who are you working for?" I asked.

"Why should I answer?" she shot back defiantly.

I sighed. "Honey, I'm a mind reader. I can just knock you unconscious and probe your mind, but that would be more painful for you. I'm trying to _help_ you here."

Lauren swallowed. She tilted her head and examined me. "Why should I believe you?"

"You want me to knock you unconscious?"  
"Fine. I'll talk. One condition – no one gets hurt, okay?"

"Deal. Spill, sweetie."

Lauren sighed, scowled at me one last time, and began. "Tyler, Eric, Sean, and I were called to Mr. Banner's room during lunch one day. About three weeks before you and James showed up. He said that two new students were going to come to the school, and we had to keep an eye on you. He paid us all in money, and he blackmailed us."

"With what?"

"Somehow, Mr. Banner found out most of our secrets. He knew Tyler and I were smoking weed. He knew that Eric had a thing for Bella – and he threatened to tell her. Eric freaked. And he knew something about Sean, but Sean wouldn't say what."

"Was there any reason that the four of you were called to his room?"

Lauren shrugged. "If he had one, he didn't share it with us. I was just worried that he'd tell my parents."

I nodded. "Okay. So, do you know who he's working for?"

"Who he's working for?" she asked, confused.

"Whom he reports to. Did you ever hear him call anyone or something like that?"

She frowned. "I heard a couple names mentioned…I thought they were code names. Does the Neamean Lion mean anything?"

I shook my head. I already knew where that came from.

"Okay…let me think. I have to remember." She paused for a minute. "Oh, I think I have some. Camp Half-Blood? Camp Jupiter?"

I shook my head again. "Nothing."

"Humph. I think there was one last one…I just can't remember it."

"Gaea?" I prompted. "Something about a giant?"  
"He did mention the name Gaea once, but he said that she was already defeated."

"Oh, not that, then. Can you try to remember?"

She screwed up her facial features, so I assumed she was remembering. "I remember thinking 'disaster' but I don't know why…Oh! I got it! Chaos was the last name!"

I froze. "What did you say?"

"Chaos. I thought 'disaster' because in English class that day, we learned that chaos is a synonym for—"

"Are you _sure_ that that's what you heard?"

She frowned. "Yeah, why?"

I took a deep breath. "Then we're in a shitload more of trouble than I thought."

*O*

"So first Kronos, then the Giants, and now Chaos?" James asked.

I nodded. "It seems like that. They all want revenge."

"Hold it," Katie said. "Who's Chaos?"  
I sighed. "You know the old Greek myths stating that everything came from one immortal being? The universe?"

"Yeah, I remember those," Katie said.

"Well, the universe is called Chaos. And apparently, that's what wants revenge on us now," I said gloomily.

"But for what?" James asked.

I shrugged. "Probably 'cause we beat the Titans and the Giants. She can't be too happy about that."

"Wait, Chaos is a 'she'?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, it's part of the myths," I clarified. "That's why the Greeks are one of the only cultures to respect women, because their beginning was from a woman."

"Huh," James tutted. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Notify everyone we can," I said. "We have another war on our hands now. Just like the last one."

"But why on earth would the universe want to hurt us? I mean, what does she get from eradicating demigods?" James demanded, sounding angry.

I shrugged. Again. "I don't know." Not knowing frustrated me to no end. "We have to call Percy," I decided.

"Screw that," Katie said. "You guys are coming back to Camp, and we're having a meeting. This is way to important to neglect."

"But we need to involve the Romans on this too," I argued. "So where do we meet for that? Neither side will go to the other camp."

"A neutral location," James insisted. "We'll figure something out. But for now, we need more information."

"Who knows the most?" I asked.

"It seems like Sean does," James said. "But he wouldn't talk."

"Let me—" I started.

"No!" James growled.

Katie sighed. "James, we can listen from outside. Sean will talk to Aria better. Let her."

James tilted his head, contemplating the idea. I raised my eyebrow, giving him the full _You-chauvinistic-pig_ bitch brow.

He sighed. "Fine. But the first time you raise your voice, I'm coming in there."

I nodded, glad I had got him to agree. "I'll be fine. I know it."

*O*

Sean had his head down on the table, and was relaxing as much as he could with his arms and legs tied.

"Hello, Sean," I said, shutting the door behind me. Through the wall, I could hear James pacing and Katie worrying aloud.

His head popped up, and an evil smile immediately donned his face. "Aria."

"Would you mind if we talked for a while?" I asked.

"I know all your interrogation techniques. Don't even try."

"Do you know what we are?"

He was silent.

"Exactly," I continued. "So, I'll give you a full description of what we are if you promise to answer any and all questions that I have."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why should I believe you?"

I sighed. Deciding to take the same route that I did with Lauren, I started talking again. "Honey, if I wanted to, I could just knock you unconscious and get all the answers that I need. I'd prefer to do it this way."

Sean flinched, and I knew I'd gotten through to him. He sighed to himself, and muttered. "What have I got to lose?"  
Before he could speak again, I added, "If you talk now, I can guarantee that you, Lauren, Tyler, and Eric, don't have to go back to Mr. Banner. You'll all be set free. We can arrange that."

_God, I sound like some sort of assassin,_ I thought to myself.

Sean nodded. "That sounds like a good plan. I might even answer more questions now."

"Okay, so let's start. Who is Chaos?"

"The person that Banner says is in charge," he answered immediately. "Who is that?"

"How does she contact him?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"He says that the sky speaks to him…always thought he was loony," he said derisively.

The sky speaks to him…Chaos would leave him messages through the stars? I was clueless for a minute, until Sean said something else.

"Whenever he went outside, this little cloud would always follow him around…I thought that was kind of freaky."

"Of course!" I yelled, and jumped up from the chair where I was sitting. I raced out of the room and nearly ran into James.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"She's the lower atmosphere!" I said excitedly. "That's how she's controlling things! She has power over the wind and weather, because she's the lower atmosphere!"

"What?" he said, looking confused.

"The lower atmosphere," I babbled excitedly. "In the myths, the universe is present on earth as the atmosphere. She communicated with Banner through cloud form – water. Jason or I could probably send it away if we wanted to, but it would take a lot of work—"

"Hold on, hold on," James said. "Slow down. So we know how she's communicating with Banner. Now what are we going to do about our captives?"

"I promised them safety. If we send them back to school, Banner will undoubtedly know that they talked. I don't doubt that Chaos already knows. In fact, I'm surprised no one's attacked yet."

"But we don't know who's working with her," Katie added. "We have to find that out."

"She could have teachers like Banner all over the world," I theorized. "Finding humans and teaching them to dislike demigods, so they'll kill all of us. It's a viable plan."

"Send the four of them to Arizona," Katie piped in suddenly. "We have a human safehouse there, for the people affected by the gods. It'll be perfect."

"Affected by the gods?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Humans whose lives they destroyed because they had a kid with them," Katie explained.

"That sounds morbid," I said. "So, flight tickets to Arizona?"

"I'm on it," James said, pulling out his cellphone quickly. While he made the calls get flight tickets – don't ask, we know people – I walked back into Sean's room, with a couple more questions in mind.

"What happened?" Sean asked, looking curious.

"Nothing," I said. "Do you know if Mr. Banner had any more students like you working for him?"  
"None at all," Sean said. "We were the only four. Now, what are you people?"

"Okay, here's the deal," I said, blatantly ignoring his question. "We're sending you all to Arizona. We have a safehouse there. Someone will explain everything to you, and you'll be able to pick up from there."

"What about our families and everything?" Sean asked, his eyes wide.

"We'll arrange for them to be sent a couple days later. Don't want you all disappearing at once." I made a mental note to remind myself to ask Chiron to send all their families there with them, and make sure that they had enough to settle properly.

I walked out of his room once again, his unanswered questions lingering behind me. James was still on the phone, bargaining for airline tickets. Soon, I knew he would switch to ancient Greek, as our demigod friend in the airline would guarantee us the tickets that we needed.

"Next," I muttered to myself, my mind in a whirlwind. The only way to keep calm was to have an organized and orderly play. I had to call Percy and Jason and arrange a meeting in a neutral location. We had to discuss this new breakthrough, and find out who else was helping Chaos. We had to organize search teams, train new demigods…the list was endless.

Just as I was thinking of all this, my phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I said, not recognizing the number.

"Aria, where are you?" Rose's voice filtered through the phone. "Emmett and I can't find you anywhere."

_Damnit..the dance!_ I had totally forgotten where we were supposed to be. I saw Katie's eyes widen and she mouthed _tell them I'm hooking up with a random stranger._

I rolled my eyes.

"Um…James and I are…" I trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence without embarrassing myself. "And I last saw Katie draped over some random guy."

Rose snorted. "Your friend is a fast mover. I'm not exactly sure I want to know what you and James are doing, but we'll call you when we find Katie."

I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that I'd lied my way out of that one. I hung up the phone at the same time James did.

"We got airline tickets, they'll be sent to my email," he said. "Who was that?"

"Rose," I answered. "She's gone looking for Katie."

Katie already had one foot out the door. "I've got to go find myself a random guy to be draped over," she rolled her eyes. "Hurry up, we have to get back to the dance. And make sure that our prisoners don't escape until we can get back."

I sighed. "Back to the dance we go."

**A/N: Okay, my readers. That's the next chapter. Review, please! If you want an outtake, let me know. I know that guest reviewers can't exactly request outtakes, but be assured, once this story is over, I will post every single outtake that there is, and possibly some new ones. **

**Fic Rec: **Complicated by scarlettstones: _Bella isn't as normal as she seems. She's not human — or part human, at least. What is she, then? She's complicated. A third Mai, a third Greek demigod and a third vampire. Who said everything was easy? It's Twilight meets The Nine Lives Of Chloe King meets Percy Jackson & The Olympians. Set during Twilight._

**Note: My FFN BFF's story, a WIP. Go ahead and read, I think it's awesome! **

**Review Replies:**

**lil Miss Mysterious:** Oh no, don't die from laughter! I can't lose a reviewer! Question for ya, who's your favorite character? I wanna know who makes you laugh the most – in the series, and then in the story.

**Katie:** Of course they don't, honey. Why do you think I didn't write it in there? **winks** How do you like the Katie that I wrote in there? Is she anything like you?

**Anna M. Banana: **For some reason…I love your name. Though, wasn't it 'Softballs HATE me' and a picture of the princess from the Disney movie? I like the new name & pic. Was there a story behind that original name?

**HuntressofArtemis192:** Aww, thanks! I started reading _OUT for Revenge_ – one of your stories – go see my reviews! Question: If you were the one writing this story, would you have Edward and Bella be mad at Aria for keeping all this from them, or understand?

**Angelina Roongta:** Your conciseness continues to amaze me, milady.

**Greenafied:** Happy to hear that you're still alive. Like I said to Katie, of course we don't want to know what Rose and Emmett are doing. Do you like the mom-daughter dynamic between Rose and Aria, or should I make it more sister-like? Your opinion, please?

**I LUVS NATURE: **Good job…demigods? As in, good job at ramping up the sexual tension and causing Jasper to explode, or good job as in they got all the humans? **winks**

**Anyways, until next time! Review if you want an outtake! **


	38. Planning - Again

**Chapter 38**

**A/N: I lied last chapter. I took down the angry author's notes (LOL!) so this is only chapter 38. Anyway, I still want reviews! I hope y'all are enjoying the fic recs at the bottom of each chapter!**

**Aria's POV**

Finding our way back to the dance was not as easy as it looked. We had to opt for running along the roads, and that did not go well with my shoes.

"This is such a bad idea," Katie grumbled.

"Well, it was yours in the first place," I reminded her.

Thankfully, the journey was made shorter by our above-average running skills, though, in that moment, I _really_ wished I had the ability to run as fast as a vampire.

Back at the dance, though it was getting late, there were still a lot of people.

"Well, see y'all later," Katie sighed. "I gotta go find a random guy."

I snickered as I watched her walk up to the nearest average-looking freshman guy and immediately drag him to the nearest dark corner.

"Well, she works fast, doesn't she?" James noted.

"Of course she does. She's _Katie_. Shouldn't we go find a dark corner ourselves?" I suggested.

"Too late, Cullen alert," James muttered.

"There you are!" Rose yelled over the music from behind me.

"Hey, Rose," I grinned. "You and Emmett have fun?"

"Wouldn't you like you know!" Emmett said, winking at me. I shuddered at the brief mental picture that ran through my mind.

"Yeah, I don't want to know," I said hurriedly.

"Anyway, where's Katie?" Rose asked.

James and I looked at each other and shrugged at the same time.

"Last I checked, she was with some random guy," James said. "I dunno about after that."

"Oh, wait, isn't that her?" Rose noticed, pointing somewhere behind me.

I turned around and immediately felt the urge to gag. Katie was sitting happily on that random guy's lap, making out heavily with him.

Emmett whistled. "Wow, she moves fast."  
I shook my head, wondering what damage her feminine wiles had done to the poor human. James grinned, catching my train of thought.

"So…Emmett, d'you wanna go extract her?" Rose asked.

"Um…no."

"Well, I'm not going," James said. Everyone looked at me.

"Oh, you big wussies. Fine, I'll go," I huffed. I walked away, muttering, "Cowards."

Katie didn't even notice me coming. At least, I don't think she did, because she never stopped kiss him. I stopped right in front of her and the guy and cleared my throat.

The poor human jumped back like his butt was on fire. Katie, always the polar opposite, merely scowled up at me.

"What, Aria?"  
"We're leaving, Katie," I said, grinning. The poor guy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, wishing he could disappear.

"Well, I live on the other side of the country, so, it was nice knowing your mouth," Katie said, smirking.

I punched her arm. "Katie!"

She shrugged. "What? It's true!"

I shook my head and led her back to Rose. "We found the tramp, we can leave now," I announced dramatically.

Katie punched me in the arm in return. I smirked at her again. Suddenly, I heard a low buzzing noise, and was about to flip my shit when Katie claimed it was her phone.

"Hold up, I've got to take this," she said, disappearing again. In a minute, she had returned. "That was Apollo," she said. "He said to come home, and that you guys didn't need my help anymore." _He also said that the rest of them would be watching_, she added in her mind to me.

"Okay," I said, agreeing to both her spoken and unspoken statements. "How are you getting back?"

"Ticket's already in the safehouse," she said, hugging me quickly. "Bye!"  
"Wait, hold up!" Emmett exclaimed.

"What?" Katie asked, freezing.

"You're just gonna leave like that?" he asked, confused.

"Well…yeah," Katie said, looking every bit as confused. "Is there an issue?"

"Emmett, demigods don't really stay in one place very long unless it's at home," I explained, seeing what he was questioning. "It's normal for us to come and go like this."

"Oh. I understand. Kind of?" he said, still unsure.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Come on, we still need to find Alice and Jasper."

"Okay," James said. I heard him tell Katie, _Don't forget to break Bella's fever._ She nodded in understanding and then disappeared.

"Can we just go?" I suggested. "I have the feeling Alice and Jasper want to be left alone."

Emmett snickered. "Damn right. Can you hear them?"  
Instinctively, my ears honed in to the sound he was describing—"OH GOD!" I screeched, covering my ears.

Rose smacked Emmett upside the head. "Why?"

Emmett just grinned. I glared at him. "That was not funny, you big oaf," I growled. "Wait till I get you back for that."

His smirk faded just a little bit. James, in turn, gave me a glowing grin. The entire car ride home, we were silently plotting new pranks to pull – this meant war.

"I can feel you guys plotting," Emmett called from the front seat.

"You go right on ahead plotting, honey," Rose countered. "Get him back. He deserves it."

"Rosie!" Emmett complained, and then came the sound of a smack. I smiled.

By the time we got home, Bella was feeling a little better, due to Katie's absence. Edward, predictably, had worried himself sick, staying by her side all night. He'd convinced Charlie that Bella would be better taken care of here, since he was pulling a night shift.

"How is she?" I asked Edward, already knowing the answer.

"She's…better," he said, and inexplicable grin crossing his face. I wondered why for a brief moment, but instead was hit with thoughts from Bella's unguarded sleeping mind—

"HOLY SHIT!" James and I screeched at the same time, the thoughts having hit us both. I turned to Edward. "You slept with her!"  
Emmett and Rose were by my side in a minute.

"What?" Emmett yelled.

"Seriously?" Rose exclaimed.

"Ew!" James yelled. "Get it out of my head!"  
"Really, Aria, yell it to the whole world, won't you?" Edward said dryly. "And how the hell did you figure out?"

"Her sleeping mind is unguarded," I informed him.

His eyes lit up. "Really? What's she thinking?"

"Never mind that," James insisted. "Why? I thought you were waiting until marriage…and change?"

"Well…she was too warm…" Edward trailed off. "And she needed my coolness… and then one thing led to another and—"

"Stop right there!" I said quickly. "I really don't need to hear another word."

"Aww, my little bro's all grown up!" Emmett exclaimed, tackling Edward. Edward rolled over and pushed him away.

"Go away, Emmett," he grumbled.

"Oh, we are so having a girls' night after this," Rose gushed to me. "Alice, Bella, you, and me—"

"Wait, what?" I protested. "No. I don't do girls' nights."

"You better, because Alice is going to make you."

"Um, no."

James laughed. "I knew this day would come."

"Shut up, wine head."

He just smiled at me. Little idiot.

"I'd ask you how it was, Edward, but I don't really want to know the answer to that," Rose said. "But I think it's amazing that you finally got over your ancient morals and let her have what she wanted."

Edward scowled at her. "You're so helpful."

"Just stating the truth," Rose said. She turned to me. "What else is Bella thinking?"

I delved into her mind for a moment. "Right now, well…sex."

Emmett started clapping, startling poor Bella awake.

"Oh, see now you woke her up," Edward complained.

I immediately rushed to Bella's side. "You and Edward had sex?"

She blushed. "How—"

"Hon, your thoughts are quite explicit."

She was about as red as a tomato. I'm pretty sure we could have fried hamburgers on her face and they would have come out fine. Bella quickly covered herself with the comforter.

"Aww, it's okay, love," Edward said, scooting to her side. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

Emmett and James both chuckled at the exact same time. Rose and I glared at both of them.

"Come on, everyone out," I decided. "I think they need some private time." I herded James out of the room, and tried to push Emmett, but gave up after about a millisecond. It was like pushing a damned rock wall.

"So…" James said, once we'd reached our room. "They slept together."

"Sixteen," I reminded him. "Not before, and not a second after."

"Do both of us have to be sixteen?" His eyes glinted with mischief.

I mirrored his grin. "I don't know, but if we don't ask, we can't get a negative answer."

"Well, I turn sixteen first, in a…year and a half." His shoulders sunk with disappointment.

"Don't worry, a year and a half will be over before we know it," I said, climbing into bed with him. Changing the subject, I asked, "Did the four humans get to Arizona?"  
"Yeah," he said, responding in Ancient Greek. "Our friend at the airline made sure of that."

"Good," I said, snuggling up to his chest. "Now…all we need to do is take down Chaos."

"You know, maybe this is just a misunderstanding," James suggested. "I mean, she's the universe. The divine entity. Why would she want to kill her own kin?"

"Kronos swallowed his children," I reminded him. "Gaea wanted us all dead. Kronos killed his own father. Family treachery is not uncommon here."

"You've got a point. But maybe she can be talked out of this? I mean, what does she gain from killing us all?"

I sighed. "We'd need to find one of her minions to understand that. You wanna try Banner?"  
"What's the best bet of getting him to say something?"

I sighed again. "Well…we'd need Jasper to control his mood. And Edward to read his mind, so that I can block my own. And we'd need both of us, of course."

"So…in short, we need to tell them what's going on?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

**A/N: So, a kind of fluffy, kind of important chapter. Let's just call it a regular chapter, huh? Anyway, review, please! **

**Fic Rec: **_The Angel Series_ by drotuno.

** It's a series of four books, with a Vampire Bella and Vampire Edward beginning in the first half of the first book. It's a twist on New Moon, basically, where Jake is not the sweet boy that everyone thinks he is. I started it four days ago, and I'm already on the third book. That's how good it is. Go check it out!**

**Review Replies:**

**HuntressofArtemis192: **I'm flattered that you can't find a better word to type…. :) As to your answer, I like that better. I have a feeling Edward will explode :D

**Sitshakov:** Yeah, well, had to get the story moving, right? I didn't really feel the need to bust out the big guns. Besides, Sean's only human, and he's scared of Aria. He can't fight, and he was only briefly trained in resisting mind-readers. An all-in-all lose-lose situation for him, right?

**Scarlettstones:** MAH BFFL! Lol I will keep it up…. Luvs u!

**Katie**: Lol, that sounds exactly like me. Duh, all girls are like that at one point. Just say the first random thing that comes out of your mouth. My weirdest was when my phone was in my back pocket and it vibrated all of a sudden, and I screamed, "My butt is vibrating!" We were in a co-ed group. I still haven't lived it down.

**Greenafied:** Thanks! I kind of like the mother-daughter between Rose and Aria too, but I wasn't really sure about my reviewers. Thanks for your opinion! Any other suggestions?

**I LUVS NATURE: **Lol…they deserve a good job too for ramping up the sexual tension. A difficult job, no? Um, to your question…I don't know? I just write? Sufficient enough of an answer? **winks**

**Guest:** I know, right? Demigods always have bad luck. I found out this interesting fact yesterday: in some small countries, the word for demigods is connoted with 'bad luck.' It's so ironic, isn't it?

**Anna M. Banana: **Darnit…for a minute I hoped you were like Bella, getting hit by softballs all the time, and everyone could fangirl….meh. D'you think you share any characteristics with either Aria or Bella?

**OMG: **Hahah…still love your name :D I'm happy you liked Complicated! Did you review?

**Twilightedfan:** Yeah, sorry about the whole 'not being able to send guest readers outtakes' thing. Promise they'll be up when the story finishes.

**Katie:** Why, thank you, my darling. This is more, isn't it?


	39. Confessions and Shocks

**Chapter 39**

**A/N: Hello! New chapter, of course. If you missed last week's author's note, I deleted the angry rants. So this is chapter 39, because two chapters are gone. Enjoy!**

**Edward's POV (I know, finally, right?) **

I don't think Bella's face could have gotten any redder than the moment that Aria declared that her thoughts were quite explicit in her sleep.

"You and Edward had sex?" Aria urged, as soon as Bella awoke from her apparently explicit slumber.

Bella blushed. "How—"

"Hon, your thoughts are quite explicit," Aria informed her.

Bella was about as red as one of those bell peppers that she uses while cooking. She quickly covered her face with the comforter, but I rushed to her side.

"Aww, it's okay, love," I said. I didn't want her to be embarrassed. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

Emmett and James chuckled, but I didn't see Aria and Rose's angry glares.

"Come on, everyone out," Aria demanded. It was the first thing that I was happy to hear from her all night. She pushed everyone out, leaving Bella and me alone.

"Oh, god, I'm sooo mortified," Bella grumbled, her voice muffled by the comforter.

"Calm down," I said. I felt her forehead again. "Hey, your fever's nearly gone."

"Great, but I still need your cool temperature," she said, snuggling up to me again.

I smiled and let her use me as a full-body pillow.

***O***

The next morning, there were a lot of giggles as soon as I entered the room. Thankfully, Bella was still sleeping, so she didn't have to face the teasing this morning. I frowned.

"So…Edward, how was your night?" Alice asked, a wide smile prominent on her face.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Your hair's all messed up," Rose commented. Emmett flew into a coughing fit.

Aria and James were sitting calmly in a corner, she in his lap. Both were smiling slightly, and as I caught Aria's eye, she grinned evilly at me.

"Oh, come on, guys," Aria piped up. "We all know Edward slept with Bella. Can we stop with the innuendos now? And Jasper, quit sending out bursts of lust. You're just going to send Rose and Emmett into a frenzy."

Emmett burst out laughing. "You're better than Bella at dishing out insults."

"Not a compliment, Em," Aria said seriously.

"I remember the day after Percy and Annabeth did it," James commented. "The entire camp wouldn't leave them alone for a week."

Alice burst out laughing. "Must have been worse, with the superhuman hearing. At least all of us were out of the house."

Aria shuddered. "I had to sleep in James's cabin that night; the noises were so loud."

Emmett began chuckling, which turned into full blown laughter. I glared at him again. I was about to tackle him to the ground, but thankfully, Carlisle and Esme walked in. I knew Esme wouldn't be happy if I attacked Emmett.

Carlisle looked at me. "So, son…" he trailed off, obviously not knowing what to say.

"Yes, Edward is no longer a virgin," Aria said brightly. "And neither is Bella. Would you like the full story plus details, or will you settle with what I just told you?"

Carlisle and Esme looked at her, clearly shocked, while James tried to mask his laughter. He was failing miserably.

Aria shrugged. "Y'all are so awkward. Jeez, he's a hundred and nine. It's about freaking time."

Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper were now outright laughing, much to my chagrin. Aria just smiled sweetly at everyone, the perfect picture of innocence.

Esme shook her head at our 'childish antics,' as she put it in her head. "Did you two eat?" she asked Aria and James.

They both nodded.

"Edward, where's Bella?" Esme asked me.

"She's still sleeping," I said. "Sickness is almost completely gone."

"Actually…" Aria trailed off, looking at James for a second. He nodded. "We have to tell you guys something.

"Okay, tell," Esme said, pouring a glass of orange juice for the both of them.

"No, it's important," James said. "Can everyone sit down, please?"

At that moment, I wished more than ever that I could see into their minds again. Aria's shield was obviously up, and I knew it didn't drop easily. Now, I could feel that it was stronger than ever. Either she was making it like that on purpose, or they'd been rejuvenated by something.

Everyone moved to seats around Aria and James, and she slid off his lap. She looked nervously around for a minute, before composing her expression. It reminded me of the first time I'd seen her, when she threatened me with her knife. I wondered what it was to make her that defensive again.

Aria took a deep breath. "Remember when we said that we'd notify you of any changes that happened with our position?"

All of my family nodded.

"Yeah…well…we've done a lot of work since then, and we kinda kept it to ourselves," James said, clearly trying to keep a calm face.

I didn't know what to think at first, because Aria had promised me that she would let us know what happened. Alice had said that they were hiding something, and that there was a huge probability of death for them.

I exchanged a glance with Ali, and she didn't need to be a mind reader to know what was going on in my mind at the moment.

"What type of work?" Carlisle asked.

"We found Banner's helpers," Aria started. "During the dance, we captured them, got all the information we needed, and they're on their way to Phoenix right now. We made plans to hinder Banner again. Without his human minions, he's nothing. We found a lot of important information on the war, thanks to the four humans."

Emmett whistled. "That's a lot of stuff."

"I knew what you were doing," Alice said.

James looked surprised. "How?"

"Right before Aria's shield dropped back into place, I saw it," Alice said. "I'm not mad, I just wished you would have told me before. I foresaw some pretty dark things."

I silenced her with a look, begging her not to tell them what she'd seen.

"Who were the humans?" Rose asked, looking a bit shaken up. From her mind, I could tell that she was worried for Aria – her surrogate daughter – and the danger she would have gone through.

"Sean, of course, Lauren, Eric, and Tyler," Aria said.

I swore under my breath. I knew that I didn't like Eric and Tyler, just didn't know that they were working for Banner.

"You didn't like them because they had things for Bella," Aria said, looking at me amusedly. "You had no way of knowing."

"So what did you find out from them?" Esme asked. "What types of important information?"

"Well, who's after us, for starters," James noted. "It's Chaos, the universe itself. I swear, we're going by family tree here. Apparently, the universe itself wants all demigods dead, and is enlisting the humans' help to do it. Our theory is that there are people like Banner all around the world, getting humans to form an army. Tyler mentioned that Banner had asked them to recruit more students, but they never got a chance."

I was now officially worried. If this Chaos was after humans, Bella was in danger.

"What about vampires?" I asked. "Does she know about us?"

"I doubt it," Aria said. "No one mentioned anything – their minds didn't reveal that they knew more about you than they let on."

Alice sighed in relief, and she exchanged a glance with Jasper. He was in full military mode right now, looking at this strategy from all angles.

"So what's the plan from here?" he asked, his jaw clenched.

Aria and James looked at each other, both of them looking guilty.

"Oh, don't tell me you can't tell us your plan," Emmett said exasperatedly. I shot him a look.

"Um…I guess we can," James said reluctantly. "We're going to confront Banner. Without his humans, he doesn't have the advantage."

"That's actually where you guys come in," Aria cut in. "We need help with that."

I frowned. "What type of help?"

"We need Jasper to make Banner go into a very honest-type mind set, and we need you to read his mind while I block mine," Aria said.

"Banner can read your mind?" Carlisle asked, shocked.

She nodded. "Surprising, I know. I'm still trying to figure out why."

"I think I might know," Alice said slowly. "It's because your wing was gone at that point. He might be like us, able to see if your shield is down."

Aria looked like she had a revelation. "I never thought of that. That's actually a viable reason."

Alice looked smug. "So when is all this going down?"

"When we get the signal that the humans reached Phoenix," James informed us. "Shouldn't be more than a couple days."

"Why a couple days?" Carlisle questioned.

"Because they'll have to be acquainted with their surroundings and cut off from all communication, so we know that they weren't contacting Banner or anything," Aria said.

"A couple days," I said. I looked at Jasper. "We can do it."

Aria breathed a sigh of relief, her green eyes lighting up for the first time this morning. "Thank the gods, I was getting worried." She clambered back onto James's lap, and he gladly welcomed her.

"Thanks for listening," James said. "We promise we'll let you know as soon as we get the signal."

"Promise?" Rose said sternly.

"We promise," Aria said sheepishly. My family began trickling from the room, off to their daily activities or whatever they did on a Saturday.

I sat still for a minute, watching Aria and James. Neither of them really cared that I was still here, in the same room, they were too wrapped up in each other. When they were both talking to us, I realized that they weren't comfortable unless they were touching. It was quite sweet actually, they were obviously co-dependent. It was like one couldn't live without the other. Their level of love could rival a vampire's bond.

Briefly, I wondered if that was because of some traumatic event in either of their pasts that they went through together.

Something hit the wall behind my head. I twisted, and realized that it was a telephone book.

Aria was on her feet, glaring murderously at me. "Don't you _ever_ think that again," she snarled. "Drop it."

I looked at her, in shock. "You can hear my mind?"

Her angry face dissipated, obviously shocked as well.

"I _can_?"

**A/N: Okay, guys, don't stone me for the cliffie! Promises that I'll update soon. I want reviews, people!**

**Fic Rec:** Code of Conduct by MandyLeigh87

_Disciplined Edward is hired as a bodyguard for Bella, a rebellious teen who is the police commssioner's daughter. Their relationship develops to something they don't expect, revealing inner demons for both._

**Review Replies:**

**Greenafied:** Lol, of course I'll keep it T. I don't plan on changing that any time soon. I'm sorry if Edward's and Jasper's reactions were not what you expected, but I didn't feel like it would be rational for them to go completely apeshit on Aria and James.

**I LUVS NATURE: **heh, glad my answer was sufficient. I did update, see! Now, your turn. Review!

**Anna M. Banana:** So you're shy and look like Bella, yet you've got Aria's personality…meaning you're a badass? Did I get that right?

**MakaAlbarnxCronaForever: **Well, she was kind of thinking about it in her sleep….and since Aria mentioned it when she woke up….yeah. :) Curiosity inspires me – what is your name about?

**Angela Roongta: **She does? Coolio! Did I portray her well? Are her mannerisms like those of your friend?


	40. The Future of Us

**Chapter 40**

**A/N: Finally, we reach the real chapter 40. I hope this chapter does justice to what I imagine is a significant event in this story.**

**Aria's POV**

I could read his mind.

I could read his mind.

_I could read his mind_.

Was someone going to jump out of the shadows and yell "Punk'd!" in my face now?

"I _can_?" My shock was evident in my voice.

Edward and I were in a literal stare-down, me still in my fighting stance and Edward still cowering from the surprise of the telephone book.

"You just heard me," he said, just as taken aback as I was. "I thought something, and you heard me."

I frowned. "It seemed like you were speaking aloud…"

"That's what could happen," James said, speaking up. "For a mind-reader, it could seem like everyone always says their thoughts out loud."

I sat back down, my head in my hands. "So, now what? I can hear vampire minds?"

"Could you hear the rest of us when we were in the room?" Edward questioned.

I shook my head, then turned around. "Alice, get in here!"

Alice appeared at my side a millisecond later. "You can't hear me, can you?"

Concentrating, I tried to listen if I could hear her. I shook my head dejectedly.

_What about now?_ Her thoughts pervaded my extra-sensory hearing.

"Yes!" I yelled, excited.

Alice frowned, looking confused. "It seems like you can only hear a thought from us when it's directed towards you."

"But that doesn't make sense," Edward interrupted. "I wasn't exactly directing my thoughts towards her."

"But it was _about_ me," I reminded him. "Maybe that's why. Maybe my mind picks up on that stuff out of all the others."

"That would make sense," he mused.

"We should tell Chiron of this new development," James said, his mouth really close to my ear. Quickly, he turned his face so that it was touching my head, and thought, _Let's go for a walk. We need to talk this over. _

Oh, he was smart. He made sure we had skin contact, so I couldn't refuse. Amazing.

"I want to get out of here for a bit," I said, and James squeezed my hand. "We're gonna go for a walk."

"We have to tell Carlisle," Alice said. "This is a huge development."

"I wonder what brought this on," Edward said, looking at me strangely. "Did your shield make itself stronger somehow? Some sort of rejuvenation?"

I shook my head, guiltily thinking about the extra booster that Kate had given us before she left. I didn't know it was _that_ obvious.

"Well, we'll be on our way now," James said, a bit too awkwardly. Edward might have suspected something, but I wouldn't know for sure. That thought wasn't directed towards me, unfortunately.

He grabbed my hand and dragged us outside. I opened my mouth to start talking, but he shook his head. We ventured deeper into the forest, speeding up as we went. Finally, we screeched to a stop in a tree-thick clearing that obscured all natural light from the foliage on the ground.

I was afraid that James was mad at me, for reasons that I did not know yet. He sighed and collapsed to the floor, pulling me down with him. I snuggled up into his side, craving the warmth that his safety provided.

"What did you hear?" he finally asked, a question I knew was burning on his mind since it happened.

"He was wondering about our bond. Thinking that we had to have witnessed something traumatic if we were _that_ close."

"Oh no he _didn't_."

I giggled. "You sounded like a normal teenage girl there."

"My voice is deeper than that!" he protested.

"Yeah…well, still sound like that."

"Did it bring back the memories?" his voice turned serious again.

"Not really," I said. "Just the idea of it…yeah, it wasn't pretty."

I was speaking of the Titan War, when James and I had both nearly died. It was both a traumatizing and eye-opening experience, which was why I kept so close to him now. I couldn't stand to lose him again.

"You know that you're never going to lose me again, right?"

I nodded into his chest. I was never one for heart-to-heart talks, but James had changed many things about me. I would be forever grateful for that.

"What are we going to do once we get out of here?" he asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"Once this war thing is over. What do you want to do?"

"We're demigods, James. We're never getting out of this 'war' thing."

"That's not true," he argued. "We could get out. One last enemy to beat, and then we're home scot free."

"But we don't know how long this one will last," I said. "We've never had an all-out fight with Chaos, even after the first Giant War."

"Yeah, that confuses me also. I just don't get why she'd pick now. Maybe two times defeat wasn't sitting well with her?"

"I don't like the idea of this," I said. "She's got to be really powerful, and we don't even know she fights."

"What do we know about her strategy so far?"

"Only that she's gaining humans. She probably wants to eliminate all non-human creatures," I theorized.

"What did we ever do to her?"

"Oh, let's see…killed the Titans – _twice_, killed the Giants – _twice_—"

"Okay, I think I get it," James laughed. "But what does she gain if we're all gone?"

I shrugged. "Maybe the universe would be at peace then. For all we know, we could be upsetting the balance or something."

He frowned. "If it was that, we would be able to work out a compromise."

"We could still work out a compromise, we just don't know how."

He shook his head. "I doubt it. She sent monsters to attack us. That doesn't bode well."

"Then we'll find another way to finish this," I said firmly.

"Aren't you sick of always fighting?"  
I shrugged. "It's life, James. Specifically, it's _our_ life. Even when we do end this last war, those monsters still exist."

He kissed the top of my head gently. "When this is over, I want to go somewhere nice. Just the two of us."

"You think Chiron will allow that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Screw it. We'll have earned it by then. We deserve something nice, just for the two of us."

"Have you ever thought of children?" I asked. Don't look at me strangely. I know I'm only fourteen, but I knew enough to know that James was my forever and always.

"I don't know," he replied. "Our lives are too dangerous to bring children into them, but once things settle down, maybe I'll start thinking." He nuzzled my cheek softly, pulling me up to his eye level. "I'm going to marry you one day, you know that?"

I giggled. I may be a bad-ass sometimes, but I had a softer side too. "I know, silly. I think it was obvious the moment I met you."

"We'll have a huge wedding," he murmured, peppering my face with small kisses. "And a wonderful honeymoon. Of course, I won't tell you anything about it beforehand—"

"Bullshit," I scoffed. "I just have to make sure that we're touching, and everything's out in the open."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, can't I do _something_ by tradition?" He pulled my face to his and kissed me thoroughly, leaving me breathless afterwards.

"I wonder what our kids will say when we tell them that we fell in love the moment we saw each other," I mused.

He chuckled. "I'm more worried about what I'll say if I have any daughters. There is absolutely _no_ way that they're dating before marriage—"

"Are you listening to yourself?" I asked sardonically. "But that's a good rule."

"We're such hypocrites." His statement was muffled by his face buried into my neck.

"And don't we know it," I remarked. "So, how did this turn from a walk into planning our lives together?"

"Ah, hell if I know," James declared. "Productive walk, huh?"

"Very."

"Might as well Iris-Message Chiron and tell him what happened with Edward."

I nodded, digging a drachma out of my pocket. Creating a rainbow quickly, we said the prayer and were connected with Chiron. We filled him in quickly, as well as giving our theories about Chaos's plans. Our walk had been a little productive, after all. He didn't ask many questions, but promised to look into the whole mind-reading thing. It was an anomaly for us, because James couldn't read their minds, and Percy claimed not to be able to when he visited. So did Nico.

We ended the call quickly after that, as it was starting to get dark. I wanted to make a plan for Banner tomorrow, and we would probably need most of Sunday to finalize.

By the time we reached the Cullen home again, I could feel six presences waiting for us in the living room.

"Where are Edward and Bella?" James asked, as they were conspicuously absent.

Emmett grinned wickedly and pointed upstairs. "They're as bad as a couple of newborns."

Unfortunately, I could hear the distinctive sounds of moaning, and a bed creaking.

"I _don't_ want to hear that," I groaned.

"Ya think we want to?" Rose grumbled.

"Hey, we had to put up with you and Emmett!" Alice shot back. "Hypocrite."

Carlisle chuckled. "This is where I'm glad that only Edward was around when I met Esme."

"Alright, I don't need to hear about you guys banging!" Emmett yelled, covering his ears.

I shuddered. "It's gross," I agreed. "Has anyone told Edward that we can hear them?"

"I think it's slipped his mind," Jasper said. "Probably in the heat of the moment or something."

"it's time someone told him," I grumbled. Raising my voice, though there was no need, I yelled, "Oi, Eddie! We can all hear you banging Bella, so please quit it!"

The noises upstairs stopped abruptly. I was pretty sure Bella heard me too, from her thoughts.

Emmett and Jasper both exploded with laughter, while Rosalie and Alice covered their giggles a bit better, probably feeling sorry for Bella.

Esme just shook her head at me. "You're worse than Emmett, darling."

I grinned back cheekily at her, and James chuckled. "That's Aria for you," he said. "Better get used to it."

Just then, Edward appeared at the top of the staircase, his hair unmistakably ruffled.

I grinned wickedly up at him, as he scowled down at me.

"Not cool, Aria."

"It's not cool to hear you screwing Bella, either," I said happily. Everyone laughed.

Bella materialized at his side a second later, her clothes immaculately in place. She was obviously good at this by now. Before Emmett could even open his mouth, she held up her hand and declared, "I don't want to hear anything about the noises, so everyone just shut up."

I smiled. She could really hold her own now.

Bella and Edward came down the stairs, Edward still glaring at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. When they were both downstairs, everyone was still grinning at them like the cats that had gotten the canaries.

Carlisle broke the silence by chuckling awkwardly. "Well, we had the idea to go play a family baseball game, but—"

"YES!" Emmett cheered, fist-pumping the air and very nearly missing Alice's head.

"Oh my god, yes," Bella said excitedly. "We haven't done that since before James."

"Sounds good," Rose agreed.

"Hold up," I declared. "Baseball?"  
"Yeah," Alice said, smiling. "We don't need thunderstorms anymore; we're too far out."

"Thunderstorms?" James questioned.

"You'll see," Jasper said, grinning madly in a very uncharacteristically Jasper way. "You're about to be exposed to the sporty side of the Cullens."

**A/N: I had to split this up, because if I wrote the baseball game in here, it would've been about thirty pages long. Something to look forward to next time. Anyways, I thought it was time for a little tension breaker. Remember to leave me reviews with what you thought!**

**Fic Rec:** Nobody's Little Girl by HelloElla

_A billionaire couple searches for their long lost daughter. A lonely, troubled young man finds and gives refuge to a homeless girl with no name. Paths are crossed and hearts are given, but you can't keep what was never yours._

**Review Replies:**

**Scarlettstones:** Hun, I think it's pointless to reply to you in a chapter, so I'll PM you later. Though, Bedward? I totally heart that!

**Greenafied:** Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter! I'm sorry I didn't do the last chapter justice, too. I had hoped it would be good. Was this chapter okay?

**I LUVS NATURE:** Well, now you know what happened! What do you think?

**Anna M. Banana:** Lol! Nice to meet you, fellow badass. Curiousity – what qualifies as a badass?

**Guest:** Um…dude, please get some sleep. If you're school age, I absolutely refuse to be responsible for you losing sleep. Trust me, we all need sleep. I can promise you that my story will still be here in the morning, no matter when you sleep! Sweet dreams XO ;) Also, I have no idea about my updating schedule. Just stay tuned!

**Angelina Roongta:** So, would she have sappy convos with her boyfriend about kids and future lives and their daughters' dating rules? ;)

**TheOlympianGirl135:** Yeah, I'm continuing. Expect a PM in your box soon!

To the people who PMed me:

**HuntressofArtemis192**: Well, it did turn out kind of well…but no one knows the consequences yet. **evil grin**

**Angletricia**: Thanks! I have updated :)


	41. IMPORTANT: AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello:

Long time no update, eh? No explanation for that, so sorry to all those out there who are just itching to strangle me for an explanation. I do want to say that I am putting both of my stories (Green Eyes & The Survivor) either up for adoption or taking them down completely...so, if you're interested, PM me. If not, these get taken down, maybe put away until I feel like writing again.

Thank you to those of you who made my FFN experience that much better.

Lotsa love and fiction,

Aria :)


	42. Adoption Announcement

Hello again,

I am pleased to say that my FFN friend Anna Valdez has adopted Green Eyes. I know she will do it justice, and I hope that all of you continue reading! The link to her profile page is on my profile. Further questions can be PMed to either me or her.

Thank you so much for your kindness.

Happy Reading!  
~Aria


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